Boundless Love
by Fireruby
Summary: There's a new villian in town, and she's teaming up with Slade in an attempt to return Robin to him. But when she kidnaps Starfire, she pushes Robin too far. Just what's the secret behind all this turmoil? Sequel to Hidden Emotions. Ro&S - Ra
1. Prologue: Know Thy Enemies

**{(Prologue- Know Thy Enemies)}**

The masked man sat back and carefully watched the huge screen in front of him.

The screen played a video clip of a battle. It was Robin vs. the other Titans.

"This was when I had made him my apprentice." The man said.

"I know."

The voice came from a cloaked woman standing next to the screen's controls.

"Just watch."

The clip continued on, to show the Titans following Robin up to the roof of the WAYNE building. Cyborg was approaching Robin with his palms in the air.

"Look," recorded Cyborg said. "I don't know what's going on, but we don't wanna fight! We just wanna talk!"

He was cut off from saying more when Robin jumped into the air and kicked him upside the head. The young woman paused the clip.

"You can see that we cannot use that one. Robin did not even hesitate to attack him. They are close friends, but not quite close enough."

The man nodded. "I see. What about the green one?"

The girl selected a different film clip and played it.

Now, the screen showed Beast Boy, cracking his knuckles. He transformed into a giant ape and lunged at Robin. But the boy wonder simply swung a rope around the ape's wrist and flung him into the giant "A" on the "WAYNE" sign. The screen paused.

"Again, no hesitation. And, before you ask, we cannot use the telepath either."

She inserted yet another video. This one showed Raven using her telepathic powers to break apart the thermo blaster on Robin's arm. He quickly retaliated: grabbing her by the hood and throwing her to the ground. The video stopped.

"Slade, don't you see? There is only one left."

Slade was doubtful. "But, why should the alien girl be any different from the others? Did he not attack her too?"

"Yes. But watch."

The young woman put in one last clip. This one showed Robin and Starfire standing a mere two feet away from each other. Starfire had a starbolt formed on her fist, and Robin had a thermo blast ready to fire. Starfire suddenly lowered her hand.

"Robin, you are my best friend. I cannot be in a world where we must fight. If you are truly evil, then go ahead. Do what you must."

Robin dropped his hand. His face was a jumble of emotions.

"Star, I-"

The screen went blank.

The mysterious girl walked out of the shadows of the control panel. Her white cloak swished back and forth as she walked, and her dark boots clicked as they hit the ground.

Slade motioned for her to come closer, and she walked up next to his chair.

"You see; Robin was willing to risk severe punishment from you, because he didn't want to do the girl any harm. The only time he actually attacked her was when you were threatening her life. He would do anything for Starfire, I'm sure of it. And I don't think he would stop at any length to get her out of danger. My plan… is practically foolproof."

"Well…" Slade said, turning his chair around to face her. "I only ask require two things of my employees-"

"Partner." The girl interrupted him. "This will be a partnership, Slade."

"Fine. I only require two things of my… alliances. One: that you have a good plan. As far as I can see, the plan you've formed is flawless and simple. Two: that you are powerful enough to actually pose a threat to the Titans."

"Feh. That is not a problem. I am more then a "threat" to those titans."

"Prove it."

"Fine."

The girl took off her cloak and set it on the ground. Only now was Slade really able to fully examine the young woman. She was wearing a pale yellow halter-top and short, black, leather shorts. Her hair, which fell down the length of her back, was a deep shade of rose red. Her yellow, cat-like eyes were looking at Slade in anticipation.

"Slade, stop staring. Compared to some of the other… characters around here, I don't look nearly strange enough to be stared at like that. Now, what do you want me to do to prove my strength to you?"

Slade glanced around his newly built lair. He stopped looking when he spied a cardboard box, **(A/N- New lair! Moving box! Get it?!** **Probably not…)** packed with the twisted remains of his decoy chronotron detonator. He pointed to it.

"There. Inside that box is what's left of my chronotron detonator. Even though it was a fake, it's still a very heavy heap of nearly unbreakable metal. Demolish that with a single blow, and you're hired."

The young woman looked at it, then turned back to him with an amused smile. "Is that all?"

She casually lifted up her hand and pointed her index finger at the box. Slade watched as a bright orange orb of energy formed at her fingertip. It was only a small amount of energy, but he could feel the massive amount of power emitting from it.

A quiet hush seemed to fall over the room.

"Spirit Gun." The girl whispered.

The bullet-sized energy was released from her finger. In a fraction of a second, it hit the box of metal- sending a massive explosion of energy through the lair. The sudden wind blew Slade further back into his chair, and he had to shield his face from the stay bits of metal flying towards him.

But the mystery girl just stood there; calm and assured. Her hair was flying back behind her in the wind, but otherwise she looked just as she had before the box exploded.

When the room was finally calm again, Slade lowered his arms, and looked back at the box of metal. All that was left of it now was a small pile of dust on the floor.

The redhead turned back to look at Slade.

"Is that powerful enough for you, Slade?"

Slade smiled. "Yes. I think we could make this work, Agent."

Slade held out his hand to her, and the girl shook it.

 "Agent? Please, Slade, call me Sayuri."

**((A/N- I do not own the Teen Titans. Neither do I own kowaii Slade-san. I do own Sayuri _(SAY-YOUR-EE)_, though. She's an OC I created in my spare time. I stole her move (the Spirit Gun) from Yu Yu Hakusho. She knows a lot more, so I'll probably have to add them into my disclaimer soon. Oh… and so you know… I was a little reluctant to add Sayuri into the fic because she has long red hair… kinda like Starfire's. That was _not_ the intention AT ALL when I was creating Sayuri, and for the record, her and Starfire are not related in any way, shape or form. So… yeah…))**


	2. Chapter 1: Observation

**{(Chapter 1- Observation)}**

 Robin woke up to the sound of a few raised voices coming from the kitchen, and the sun's bright rays pouring in through his window.

He gradually lifted himself off his bed. Stretching and yawning, he changed into his day clothes and made his way out of his room and into the titan's crowded kitchen.

"_Pleeeeeeeeease_!"

Robin heard Beast Boy's pleading voice ring out from the table. Sitting next to him was Raven. The green-skinned charmer was clinging to Raven's arm, and looking up at her with giant puppy eyes.

"Pleeease, Ravie! Just give them a try! If you like them, then Cyborg can't make fun of them anymore…" he pleaded.

Cyborg snickered.

Robin stared at them. "Do I even want to know what you're talking about?"

No one seemed to hear him. Raven, however, was also staring at Beast Boy.

"Did you just call me 'Ravie'?"

Though it was hard to see on his clover-shaded skin, Beast Boy clearly blushed at the question.

"S-sorry, Raven. It just kinda slipped…"

Raven shrugged and gave him a smile. "I don't mind. I kind of like the nickname."

Beast Boy responded with a huge grin of his own.

Robin smirked and cleared his throat. "I'll ask one more time… What are you two talking about?"

Cyborg, who was sitting across the table from the couple, chuckled. "He wants her to like his tofu eggs, because no one else does."

That seemed to remind Beast Boy of his objective. "_Pleeeease_, Raven! You could at least try them!"

Raven let out a resigned sigh. "Alright. I'll make you a deal…"

"Okay! What?"

"I'll eat your fake eggs if you'll drink some real milk."

Beast Boy's grin dropped. "Milk?"

Cyborg, however, was developing a grin of his own. This could be fun.

"Come on, BB! It isn't like it hurts the cows to be milked!"

Robin nodded and sat down in one of the table's chairs.

"He's right."

Beast Boy looked a little unsure. He glanced at Raven, and she gave him a reassuring smile. That was something that didn't happen every day.

"Alright… I'll do it…"

Cyborg grinned and pushed his large glass of milk across the table. "This I **gotta** see."

Beast Boy felt his ears lower in fright as he reached for the glass. Slowly, hesitantly, he took a small sip of the milk.

"Well…?" Robin and Cyborg both asked.

As if on cue, Beast Boy made a disgusted face and spit the milk back into the glass.

"Ugh! How do you guys STAND that stuff?!"

Cyborg stared. "Huh? You don't like it?"

Beast Boy violently shook his head. "It's horrible… way too much cream and richness and stuff… But, you gotta hold up your end of the deal, now."

Raven nodded. "Fine."

Beast Boy grinned, his ears perking back up. He scooped up a large pile of tofu eggs onto his spoon and handed it to her.

"Enjoy."

Raven took the spoonful of "eggs" from him, and eyed them cautiously before sliding the bite into her mouth. She chewed on it a while before swallowing.

"Well…?" Beast Boy asked, echoing Robin and Cyborg.

Raven shrugged and handed his spoon back to him. "They're okay…"

Beast Boy grinned.

"…But they have a awful aftertaste." Raven finished. She looked at him, and he noticed she was keeping her usual calm expression. But then he saw her eyes were crinkled in disgust.

"Bad aftertaste, huh? Let me see if I can fix that for you." He leaned towards Raven and quickly captured her lips in a kiss.

Robin smirked. "What? You're going to drown out the bad taste of fake eggs with the taste of… _your spit_?"

Cyborg glanced at him and made a vomiting gesture.

Robin snickered. Then he noticed something.

"Hey… where's Starfire? Don't tell me she's still in bed."

Cyborg shook his head. "Nah. She left to go get some fresh air a few minutes ago. Apparently spending so much time indoors is not done on her planet."

Robin smiled. "I think I'm gonna go join her. The happy couple over here is starting to annoy me."

He stood up and walked out of the kitchen. He left the tower, and started walking down in the grass outside.

He wasn't walking long when he tripped over something.

Robin let out a yelp of surprise as he tumbled and rolled a few feet, eventually landing on something hard, yet… surprisingly soft.

Cautiously, he opened his eyes, preparing himself for the worst. His eyes eventually settled, meeting another pair of startled green ones.

"S-Starfire?"

"Robin?" The confused voice was clearly Starfire's.

Robin quickly pushed himself off her, blushing furiously.

"I-I'm so sorry, Star. I… tripped or something… I didn't mean to… I'm sorry!"

Starfire, too, was blushing ten different shades of red.

"Do not worry about it, Robin." She said softly. "It was not your fault."

Robin glanced down at the ground, shaking his head in embarrassment.

"So… how'd you sleep?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across town, down in Slade's secret lair, Sayuri smiled as she watched the two teenagers fumble out a conversation.

She looked at Slade.

"There's chemistry there, see?"

Slade shook his head. "I just don't get it, though… Chemistry is one thing, but… What makes you think he'd do anything to keep that girl safe?"

Sayuri smiled as she glanced back at the screen.

"Boundless Love."

**(A/N- Hence the title. Man, I have an obvious choice for words. Please review!!!!)**


	3. Chapter 2: The Kidnapping

**{(Chapter 2- The Kidnapping)}**

Slade looked over at Sayuri and pointed at the screen.

"Good. Go, then."

Sayuri shot him a glare. "I'm not one of your mindless lackeys, Slade. I came up with this plan, and I'm perfectly capable of determining when to execute it."

Slade crossed his arms, stubbornly. 

"My apologies." He said in his usual cold voice. "I'm not used to treating others as equals. You're just going to have to tolerate that for a while."

Sayuri smirked. "Awww…" she said, tauntingly. "Poor little Sladey-wadey… his mommy never taught him to treat women with respect…" She dropped the teasing tone and narrowed her eyes. "For your sake, I hope that you are a fast learner."

With that, she turned and walked out of the lair.

Slade looked after her and gulped nervously. 'I'll have to be careful with this girl.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back on the Titan's little island, Robin and Starfire were still sitting together; carrying on a light conversation. Above them, the sun was drifting higher and higher into the sky. A few clouds dotted the endless blue terrain, and a light breeze played across the grass. It was turning out to be a truly beautiful day.

Robin, however, hardly noticed any of this. He was too busy taking in the beauty of the girl sitting next to him. He watched as a stray strand of bright, red-orange hair blew across her face. He instinctively reached up, and gently tucked it back behind her ear.

Starfire felt him do it, and instantly stopped in the middle of what she was saying. She turned to look at him in surprise.

When Robin saw she'd noticed, he blushed deeply. "S-Sorry, Star… it was just… bothering me, I guess…"

He looked back up at her, and saw her shining, green-on-green eyes; glistening with some unspoken emotion. She closed them and shook her head.

"It is alright. Thank you, Robin."

They sat there for a few minutes more, in the awkward silence. Then, Starfire heard the grass rustle behind them. She quickly turned around.

"What was that?"

Robin turned around as well.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, two large orange energy blasts came flying at them. The first one was flying towards Robin. It got bigger and bigger, the closer it got. Robin quickly reached into his utility belt and threw a grenade at it. However, the orange blob just sucked the grenade into its field of energy, and quickly reached Robin, absorbing him in as well.

 "Robin!" Starfire screamed.

"Starfire!" Robin yelled back, pounding on the sides of the energy sphere trapping him.

The second blast of energy was much closer now. Starfire didn't have time to react, when it hit her in the shoulder. The force knocked her to the ground, and rendered her unconscious.

"Starfire!!" Robin screamed again. This couldn't be happening! Who would be doing this?! Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Slade…" he muttered.

He was mildly surprised when he saw a tall girl, with long, dark red hair pop out of the bushes. He'd been half-expecting Slade himself.

The girl quickly walked up to the trapped and unconscious titans. Robin noticed that she was chuckling when she bent over to inspect Starfire.

"Is she okay?" he asked reluctantly. He didn't usually like having conversations with the enemy, but he had to know.

The red-haired girl turned to look at Robin. He saw that her eyes were a bright, golden yellow.

"She'll be fine." The girl said. She turned back to Starfire, and easily lifted the alien off the ground. She slung her over her shoulder and turned back to face Robin. Through the energy field, he was glaring daggers at her.

"You! Put… her… down." He forced out the words through his anger.

The girl chuckled, an amused look in her eyes. "And what are you going to do to stop me, hon? Break through my nearly invincible energy trap? Even if you could, you'd still have to go through me before I let you get to her… And you could not do that."

Robin grunted in acknowledgment, and extreme frustration. He managed to calm himself enough to ask, "Who are you?"

The girl smiled. "My name is Sayuri. You don't need to bother introducing yourself, though. I already know all of you…" Sayuri glanced back at the Titan Tower. "Every one of you."

Robin pounded his fist against the wall of energy. "Why are you doing this?! Why take Starfire?! Why?!"

"Oh, it's not Starfire we really want, Robin. It's you."

"We?"

"Slade and I. Well, Slade mostly."

"So you **are** one of his… musclemen."

Sayuri glared sharply at him. "No. I am his _partner_. If anyone here were fit to be a muscleman, it would be you, Wonder boy. Not enough brains to be anything else." 

Robin briefly fumed at the comment. "So… you plan to just run off with Starfire, leave me trapped in this energy… thing… And somehow, I'm supposed to get out of this "invincible" trap, and come after her?"

Sayuri shrugged. The motion almost knocked Starfire off her shoulder, so she swiftly readjusted the girl's position. "Well, there is quite a bit more to my plan then that, but I suppose that's all that you need to know about. However, I never said my trap was invincible. It's _nearly_ invincible, but not quite. Anyone possessing a great control over his or her spirit's energy could deactivate it. I could do it easily, but then I wouldn't be able to get away without you chasing me. But, eventually, your friends will find you out here, and that telepath's powers may be able to break it."

She paused for a moment. "If she does, you'll probably want to thank her afterwards. Well, if she's still alive, that is. The attempt may kill her."

Robin's eyes widened. "Why do you keep threatening my friends like this? Trying to kill Raven, and kidnapping… Starfire." He paused to try and swallow the lump in his throat. 'Why is it infuriating me so much to see her harm Starfire?'

Sayuri watched him with an almost sympathetic smile. "You're starting to wonder, aren't you? Wonder why you're feeling the way you do." She cut herself off with a quick glance to her watch. Her eyes widened. "Oh, I'd better go. You're friends will be out here soon." She looked back at him. "Just remember, Robin. This is a game of minds… emotions… not of strength. That was Slade's oversight last time, and it could very well be yours. Don't have a mental breakdown before your rescue attempt. Slade says he needs you intact."

Sayuri turned her eyes away from him, and instead looked up at the sky. Suddenly, her body started to glow with a bright orange light. Her long tresses of hair shimmered with the glow, and the whites of her eyes shone the bright orange color. Even Starfire was turning apricot from the sudden light.

"Starfire will be depending on you. Don't keep her waiting, Robin." Sayuri said, looking back at the boy.

And then she was gone. Starfire with her.

Robin quickly looked around. "Huh?" 

Where had they gone? That girl had teleportation powers too? Teleportation, "spirit energy", and who knows what else… This "Sayuri" could be a major obstacle.

Robin was driven out of his thoughts when he heard the Tower's front door being opened. He hurriedly turned, to see Beast Boy walking out into the front yard. The green morpher was looking around in all directions, a curious expression on his face.

"Robin? Star? Dudes, are you still out here? What was all that noise about?"

**((A/N- Sorry to leave you at a cliff hanger. It's the only way I could think up to wrap of this chappie nicely. And… I figured y'all would want a quick update more then an excruciating long chapter. Okay… so, about my copyright privileges with Sayuri.**

** Sayuri's energy trap was something invented by me. It was inspired by the great, "Beautiful Sazuka" 's dimensional portal… thing. The portal trapped the victim in a black sphere of energy, and then transported them to some random place (/dimension) in the universe. My energy trap simply keeps the victim inside the bubble of energy. Simple enough, desu ne? The teleportation thing is my own, original idea. ^__^ Don't sue. I still don't own the Teen Titans, or kowaii Slade-san {kowaii- scary. Before someone asks}. To all my reviewers- I love you all! Thank you SOOO much for the comments and stuff!! I appreciate it SO much! Keep reviewing!!! ^_^))**


	4. Chapter 3: Released

**{(Chapter 3- Released)}**

"Robin? Star? Dudes, are you still out here? What was all that noise about?"

"Beast Boy!" Robin yelled out to his friend. "Help me out here!"

Beast Boy heard Robin's voice, and quickly turned his head in the direction. He spotted his trapped team member almost immediately.

"Raven! Cyborg!" He shouted back towards the tower. "Come here! You guys gotta see this!! I think Star learned a new starbolt trick."

He started walked towards Robin, shaking his head in amusement. That infuriated Robin.

"OF COURSE STARFIRE DIDN'T DO THIS TO ME! I'M STUCK IN HERE BECAUSE OF SOME STUPID NEW VILLIAN AND HER DARNED ENERGY POWERS!"

"Huh?" That shook Beast Boy out of his subtle enjoyment.

Just as he said this, Raven and Cyborg both rushed out of the tower. Raven was the first of the two to spot Robin, in his bright orange energy sphere. She frowned sullenly as she hurried over to her trapped friend. Cyborg followed after her; confused. Beast Boy picked up his pace and followed as well.

"Who did this to you?" Raven asked as she stepped up in front of Robin. 

Robin calmed down a little. Sayuri had said that her powers were manipulated similar to the way Raven's were. _Raven could help._ "Raven. Listen. A few minutes ago, a girl named Sayuri came and attacked Starfire and me. She used something she called "spirit energy". She used it to knock Starfire out, and did some move she called her "energy trap" to keep me in this little glowing sphere. Sayuri said that her spirit energy was a little like your telepathic powers. You're the only one that can get me out."

Beast Boy stared at Robin. _Yelling one moment and acting all calm the next... He must be really stressed._

Raven nodded in acknowledgment to Robin. She carefully poked the energy field, and felt a strong shock of energy prick up her finger. She quickly removed it, knowing the pain would only grow stronger if she didn't.

"…Spirit energy… interesting…" she mumbled. Raven looked back up at Robin. "Tell me, did this girl have long red hair and weird yellow eyes?"

Robin nodded, clueless as to how she found this out. "Are you a mind-reader as well as a telepath?"

Beast Boy chucked. "No. She's not. If she was, she'd have killed me a long time ago for some of the thoughts I've had of her."

Cyborg chuckled, but Raven didn't seem to hear either of them. She was still looking at Robin.

"That girl… Sayuri… I read a newspaper article about her a few months ago. It didn't have her name in it, but it described a girl with red hair and yellow eyes. She had "magically" broken into a bank vault. The lock wasn't unlocked, broken or even scratched. It was as if she had zapped herself in, and then back outside. No one would have caught her, except one of the locals got lucky and spotted her as she was running down the street; bags of money in hand. She was spotted, but never caught. The man who saw her said that she seemed to disappear a split second after he saw her."

Robin nodded. "Yes. She has some sort of teleportation trick up her sleeve. As well as this whole energy power thing."

Raven nodded too. "So… she told you that _I_ could break this energy field?"

Robin hesitated a beat. "Well… yes."

"Robin," Cyborg saw Robin's hesitation. "What is it your not telling us?"

Robin blinked. 

Once. 

Twice. 

And the he continued to stare at Cyborg. How had his friend gotten to know him so well? He couldn't tell when _Cyborg_ had a secret… But, maybe he was just a really readable person. 

"Uh… well, Rae… you should know, Sayuri told me that if you tried to break this trap, the effort could kill you…. Now, normally, I wouldn't want you to put your life in danger… but I **have** to get out of this and go rescue Starfire, because it's entirely my fault she was kidnapped and I need to save her. But, it's completely up to you whether or not you use your powers, and I can't make you do anything so, you get to decide." 

Robin finished all this talking very quickly. He took a deep breath and looked back at Raven. Now he struggled to speak calm and evenly. "Sayuri said that she was working with Slade. He wants me in exchange for Starfire, I suppose, and I need to get out of here if we're going to save her. It's your choice whether we're going to rescue her, or not."

Raven opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Beast Boy.

"**_No!_**" he near shouted. His voice was trembling, but determined. "_No_. She's not going to do it. She… she can't." Beast Boy lifted up his hand and angrily swiped away the tears forming at the base of his eyes. "Robin, how dare you make Raven decide something like this?! Of course she's going to do it! She's just too good a person… she'll do everything she can to help save Starfire… but… Raven, you can't die! You can't even risk it! I… I don't think I can live without you, now…" he unexpectedly dropped down to his knees, sobbing.

Raven looked down at him, and Robin noted the look on her face. Her features remained fixed in her usual calm look. All except her eyes. Her deep, violet eyes were filled with unspoken love, anxiety, and concern; all separate, yet mixed up together in her mind.

The cloaked telepath dropped down on her knees, next to Beast Boy. She put her arm comfortingly around him. When she spoke, her voice was clear and soothing.

"Shhh… shhh… listen, please, Beast Boy…" she briefly strived for something to say to calm him down a little. "eh… darling, hush…" She winced. The word "darling" just felt strange in her mouth. Mental note: don't try using sugary words for a while.

Beast Boy looked back up at her, surprised. He calmed down, and locked his tear-stained emerald eyes on her.

"Listen. There's no reason to get upset. I'm not dead yet. I probably won't even get hurt when I destroy the energy field. It was probably just some threat that girl made to delay us in freeing Robin. And, even if the trap is dangerous… it doesn't matter. Because… if we don't free Robin, you know who will be hurt? Starfire will. No doubt about it. You understand? Even if it is dangerous, I have to try."

Beast Boy frowned sadly, but gave a weak nod. He stood back on his feet, reluctantly. "Alright. You can give it a try. But, I swear… if you die… I'll have to kill you."

Raven nodded and stood up as well. She looked at Robin. "Well, should I give it a try, then?"

Robin gave a nod, and took a step back for safety.

Raven raised her hands up in front of the orange sphere, and closed her eyes in concentration. Gradually, she pushed the dark-colored energy out through her fingertips; feeding the power out into the wall of energy. She concentrated even harder, and she felt trap's power cells being destroyed by her effort.

"Wow, Raven. The orange stuff is disappearing." Cyborg's voice interrupted her concentrated state.

"Shhh!" she also heard Beast Boy's voice- aggravated and strained. "If it's really as hard as that evil girl said it was, talking isn't going to help Raven's concentration."

Then the voices stopped. 

If it weren't such a waste of energy, Raven would have smiled. Even now, when he was stressed and upset, Beast Boy was looking out for her.

She refocused her concentration, and continued forcing out her energy through her hands. She'd only been going at it for a little over a minute, but she already felt it draining the last of her energy from her. 

Her body wasn't built for this much energy loss at one time.

"Is it… almost gone?" she asked quietly, her eyes still clamped shut.

Raven heard Beast Boy's hushed voice answer her. The other two were probably afraid to say anything at this point.

"Almost…" he said "… just a little more."

The three boys watched as Raven struggled to release more of her energy. Robin no longer had any doubts about Sayuri's threat. The attempt really was killing Raven. Slowly, sure, but he could tell it was. However… there wasn't anything he could do about it. He had to go get Starfire. He would NOT just forget about her. He couldn't.

Beast Boy, too, was NOT thrilled with this turn of events. He had to sit back and watch as Raven drained herself of her life energy. But, he couldn't stop her… Raven was determined to do this… right? ……..

No… No! He wasn't going to let her do this to herself. He stepped forward, and was about to demand that she stop; when she did.

The orange energy barrier was gone. Robin was free. And Raven was collapsed on the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Back at Slade's lair…_

Slade stood up from his chair when he heard a pounding at his lair's secret entrance. He briskly walked over to the hidden door, and flung it open. He glared at the redhead standing on the other side.

"Do you have to knock so loud? I would've heard you if you simply **TAPPED** on the door. This room echoes."

Sayuri scoffed, and walked inside, hefting an unconscious Starfire over her shoulder.

"I'll knock however I darn well please, Slade. Tell me, when have you successfully knocked out one of these Teen Titans?"

Slade almost rolled his eyes. Sure, this girl was quick-witted, strong, and crafty: the perfect sidekick. But… it was times like these… he found her simply intolerable.

"Once." He stated. Coldly. Simply.

"But, not in single combat? It was with trickery, and technology."

Slade glared at her. "Yes."

"And that's why you need me." Sayuri said, just as simply. She set Starfire down on the floor, and turned back to face Slade.

"Listen, I need a glass of water, and a cold pack if you have one."

Slade smirked. "What? Hurt yourself kidnapping the teenage girl?"

Sayuri frowned, and glared at him. "It's for the girl, you imbecile. We need to wake her up, if we plan on getting any information from her, ne?"

A vein somewhere in Slade's forehead pulsed dangerously. _Imbecile?! Who does she think she's talking to?! As soon as this operation's over, I'll be ending his partnership with this rude girl… And it won't end well._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Raven…" Beast Boy cried out, as he knelt down beside her. Cyborg knelt down next to him, and checked for her pulse.

"Is she……?" Robin couldn't finish his question. If Raven had died, it would be all his fault. That'd be too much to bear.

Cyborg looked up at him, a little surprised. "No… she's not dead. Just knocked out."

Beast Boy let out a sigh of relief, and put a hand up to his head. "Thank goodness."

**(A/N- I was about to be a totally evil person, and end this chapter without telling you that Raven didn't die in her attempt to free Robin. Feh… like I would kill off one of my favorite characters.**

**I've gotten a few comments saying that Sayuri is cool, but way too perfect and predictable. I'd really hate to give up the plot now, but there's much more to her then that. As you'll hopefully read on in the later chapters to come, Sayuri is actually a very complex person. She hides behind a mask of security, stability and "perfection", when she's actually…….. Whoops! About to give away me ENTIRE villain revelation. Sorry, folks, that's all for now! Please review! I'll love you forever if you do.**

**It's. Not. That. Hard.**

**But… maybe you need some guidance?**

**R E V E I W**

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	5. Chapter 4: Sayuri

**{(Chapter 4- Sayuri)}**

Slade came back from the small bathroom in his lair with a large cup of water in his hands. Sayuri spotted him, and motioned he come stand next to Starfire with her. He reluctantly obeyed.

Sayuri took the glass of water from Slade, and dipped her fingers in it. She then carefully flicked the beads of water from her fingers, and onto Starfire's face.

Slade frowned. "Kind of a nice way to go about waking her up, isn't it? What we should do is put her in one of my torture devices. That'll wake her up."

Sayuri shot a quick glare at him. "The point is NOT to have Robin arrive at your lair, only to find his little girlfriend dead or grossly decapitated. We aren't putting her through one of your disgusting torture devices."

"We?"

"Yes. We're partners in this. Have you forgotten? And the deal was that you respect me, and pay me for my services."

"I remember the deal. But you've yet to hold up your end of it. Robin is not here."

"Of course he isn't yet…" her voice trailed off, as something suddenly clicked in the back of her mind. She stood up and handed the water glass back to Slade. "You finish waking her. **GENTLY**. I gotta go…"

"And just where do you need to be going?"

"That doesn't concern you." She snatched her white cloak off the floor and quickly walked out the door.

"_'That doesn't concern you'_" Slade mimicked Sayuri, in a horrible impression of her voice. He knew mocking people wasn't normally something he did, but that girl was driving him **crazy**. He sat down beside Starfire's unconscious form, and started to dip his hand in the water. Then a thought occurred to him.

"That audaciously cruel girl isn't here; so why am I still listening to her demands?"

He smirked as he poured the entire glass of water of Starfire's head. The teen's eyes instantly flew open, and she sat up, coughing the water out of her lungs.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Once she was out of Slade's lair, Sayuri sprinted down the road a few blocks, where her car was hidden in a Taco Bell parking lot.

**(A/N- ^__^ Guess who loves Taco Bell.)**

She climbed into her golden yellow convertible, started it up, and then steered out of the parking lot and down the -nearly empty- road.

_You know… you could've just teleported…_ an annoying voice whispered from the back of her mind.

"I like to drive." Sayuri said out loud.

_Besides… it gives me time to think…_

As she cruised down the old, two-lane road, her mind drifted off a little, and she found herself reflecting a little on her past.

Sayuri's parents had given her a good childhood, as far as she was concerned. Her dad -blue eyed red haired business executive- had always provided for her. He had been the loving, playful, and caring dad that any child would've wanted.

Her mom had been a lively housewife with long, cotton candy pink hair, and glistening golden eyes. No… scratch that. Her mom had been much more then a housewife. She had been like… a Supermom. She'd always been there for her daughter… always loving, yet strict… and constantly watching like a hawk; looking out for her little girl. It had been her mother who had taught Sayuri the fighting technique of the Spirit Wave- taught to her by Sayuri's great aunt, Genkai.

Her life had been going so great… a loving family… terrific friends… She should have guessed that something so perfect wouldn't last long.

It had all happened on July 31st -only two weeks after her 14th birthday. A maniac man, with unbelievable strength and size, had invaded her town. Him and his small troop of men had destroyed the buildings they had all worked so hard to build, and brutally murdered the people in the community, one by one.

Her mother, worried for her daughter's safety, had hidden her in a secret compartment, carefully hidden in their house's basement. Sayuri had begged her mother to stay with her there, hidden and safe, but her mom had refused- insisting that she had to find her husband. That was the last time she had ever seen her mother.

A few days later, she had ventured out of her hiding place, and back into the town. There was hardly anything left. It was a soundless, lifeless ghost town. All of the buildings and houses were nearly leveled, and she was the only person left.

At first it had been hard to accept so much destruction and loss. But then her realization finally set in. She was alone. Truly alone.

That is… until she met _him_.

 Sayuri snapped out of her sudden flashbacks, as she sharply steered her car to the left; almost missing the turn into the hospital. She parked her convertible, locked it up, and walked in through the tall building's sliding glass doors.

She stepped up to the front desk, and addressed the old lady behind the counter. She noticed that the woman was lazily combing her fingers through her stringy, gray hair.

"Getting bored on the job?" Sayuri asked her, adding an edge of good humor to her voice.

The woman looked up, surprised at first. But then she recovered, and smiled warmly at Sayuri. "Yes," she chuckled. "I suppose I am. Is there anything I can help you with, Miss?"

Sayuri gave the woman a nod. "Yes. I need a visitor's pass. I have someone I need to see on floor 6."

"Floor six? Alright, what's your name?"

"Sayuri Iotanke. I'm here to see Takeshi Kenohe."

The old woman typed both the names into the computer. She quickly turned back to face Sayuri.

"Hey… you've been here before, haven't you?"

Sayuri nodded. "Yes, often enough. My visitor's badge, please?"

"Oh, sorry." The wrinkled old lady smiled and pulled out a laminated blue badge. She wrote Sayuri's name on the bottom with a black, Sharpie pen, and handed it to her.

"There you go. I hope you have a pleasant visit."

Sayuri took the badge, and she found herself having to force a smile at the woman's word choice. She gave the receptionist one last nod before heading over to the elevator.

"_'Have a pleasant visit_.'…" She echoed. "It's a hospital for crying out loud! The entire place reeks of unpleasantness!"

Sayuri calmed herself down, and pressed the down button on the elevator. In a few seconds, the doors slide open, and she stepped inside.

She noted that no one was in the elevator with her, but there was a small security camera in the corner of the ceiling. She realized that if he wanted to, Slade could easily hijack that camera, and could be spying on his little "partner" at this very moment. She involuntarily shuddered at the thought.

Her drifting mind snapped back to reality as the elevator doors dinged back open. She stepped out, and walked down the long, cold hallway.

She stopped just outside room 613. She opened the door -noting how cold the doorknob seemed- and stepped inside the room. 

Sayuri let out a small gasp when she saw the unconscious form lying on the hospital bed. She hurried over to the cushioned chair next to him, and sat herself down in it. 

She just sat there for a long while. The seconds ticked by, as she just sat and gazed at the man sleeping on the bed. The sudden rush of emotions swirling through her became too much for words.

Still looking at the man on the bed, she finally started talking to him… her words were spoken softly and edged with grief.

"Hey, hon… I guess you can't hear me, huh? …. That's all right with me… I haven't seen you in a long time, you know… Oh, I'm so sorry I haven't been here to visit you more often Takeshi… But… you know I'm still earning the money for your operation…"

She looked at him pleadingly, even though she knew there was no way he could see or hear her. The drugs the doctors gave him were very strong, and would have him out cold for hours, maybe days. The drugs, that is, that they gave him so he wouldn't have to suffer… in agony from his pain.

"Oh, Neko-koishii, it isn't just my new… job. I hate to see you like this. Your always either knocked out or…." She suddenly found that her throat was tight with emotion. She had to choke out the rest. "or… or else you're suffering."

Sayuri reached up, and grabbed his hand in hers. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she started to reminisce about their past together.

 They had first met in a fast food place. She was 17, and at the time, she had totally withdrawn herself from the world. She'd built up a nice, sturdy wall between herself and everyone else in the world, and no one was going to get in. At the time, she wasn't even sure why she was struggling so much to stay alive. She only knew that deep down; she wasn't ready to give up on life yet.

The fast food place they had met at, was her new job. She was working behind the cash register for grocery money. 

So, Sayuri had first noticed him as she typing his order into the cash register. Even now, she still remembered what it was. A chicken sandwich with mayonnaise, lettuce, and a small cup of water.

"Water?" she remembered asking him. "You're a little strange, aren't you? The only people who come in here for water are sick or extremely old."

Only then had Sayuri looked up at him. The young man had deep-set eyes that were the color of smoke. His hair was fairly long, peach-colored. His body was notably sleek, and Sayuri noticed that she found it all too easy to compare him to a curious cat

The cat-like teen had just shrugged, and asked, "Would it help if I asked for lemon water?"

Sayuri had laughed at that subtle joke. It was the first time she'd laughed in years.

 After their first meeting, the man kept coming back to the fast food stop, everyday at noon. Their relationship gradually grew from cashier and customer to good friends. Until one day, when Sayuri had worked up the courage to ask the attractive boy out on a date.

They'd both had a wonderful time, and the dates had continued. Sayuri found that her carefully built emotional wall easily crumbled when she was near him. He was lighting up her life again, and giving her a new reason to live. A new person to love.

Time flew by, and before she knew it, it was their 1-year anniversary. Takeshi had pre-arranged a romantic evening for the two of them, and had asked her to meet him by a small pond in the middle of their city's park. He'd given her specific directions to the place. She remembered it like it was yesterday.

 **Flashback**

 Sayuri stood alone at the edge of the pond. It was already getting dark, but the stars were out, and lit up everything around her with a glistening light. A warm breeze blew past her, making her long hair dance in the light wind.

"You're here." She heard the voice from behind her.

She smiled as she turned around. She spoke to the man facing her with a teasing voice.

"Neko-koishii, you're the one who's late. Why are you surprised that I'm here on time?"

"'Cat-darling'" he translated in an amused voice. "Is that going to be your nickname for me?"

Sayuri smiled. "When I first met you, I couldn't help but think of how much you looked like a cat. Sweet, affectionate, and terribly clever. I could tell all this just by looking into your lovely gray eyes, Takeshi."

Takeshi couldn't help but grin at the affectionate words. He walked up to the lake edge, and gently edged a small wooden boat out of the shore's long grasses. Sayuri let out a contented sigh when she saw what he was doing. Her little neko was such a romantic.

Takeshi knelt down and held the boat at the water's edge. He looked back at Sayuri and nodded towards the boat.

"Ladies first, my beautiful Sayuri."

Sayuri treated him to her sweetest smile before climbing into the boat. Her footing was uneasy, and she almost tipped the boat over. Her face flushed a bright red as she seated herself down on one of the two small benches.

"Sorry…" she muttered.

Takeshi chuckled and crawled in after her. He picked up the two oars and pushed them off from the shore. He slowly rowed them out to the middle of the pond.

Sayuri looked around at the natural beauty surrounding the two of them. The stars -bright, beautiful, and unblemished by air pollution- shimmered above them; watching over the couple, and casting a beautiful glow on everything around them.

When Sayuri heard Takeshi finally stop rowing, she turned back to face him. She noticed that he was already gazing at her, and probably had been since they'd first pushed off from the shore.

"What is it you're staring at, Takeshi? Do I have something on my face?" She was half teasing, half fishing for compliments. Takeshi wasn't going to let her down.

He finally stopped staring, and took her hand in his. "No…" he said softly. "It's the same perfect face I've been dreaming about for the past year of my life."

Sayuri took his other hand in hers, and smiled lovingly at him. "Where do you come up with all these sweet, romantic things? If I weren't so afraid to move in the boat, you would have swept me off my feet."

He chuckled and tightened his grip on both her hands. He looked her strait in the eye; smoky gray met golden yellow.

"Sayuri, you are the only one in this world that can take me when I'm weeping, and make me laugh. You're the only one that can turn my days of despair into years of love. You are the only source of joy and love in my life, and you're more then I could've ever hoped for. You mean the world to me, and I would gladly give up anything I could, just to be with you."

Sayuri sat, speechless. She could tell Takeshi meant every word that he'd said. It had come from his heart, and she could tell just by looking into his eyes. He took her further by surprise realized his grip on one of her hands, and pulled a small, velvet lined box from his pocket. He leaned close to her as he popped it open, revealing a stunningly beautiful diamond ring.

"Sayuri Iotanke, would you marry me?"

Sayuri's eyes widened, and suddenly filled themselves with tears of joy. They ran down her cheeks as she hugged Takeshi close to her, making an effort not to squeeze him to death.

"Oh, Takeshi! Yes! Yes! I love you, Takeshi Kenohe! I'd love nothing more then to be your wife!"

Takeshi closed his eyes; unable to believe how much joy he was feeling at this moment. He managed to pull himself out of his fiancé's grip, and pulled the diamond ring from the box. He gently slid it onto her finger, and looked back up at her.

Tears still poured down Sayuri's cheeks as she grinned back at Takeshi. _I'm so happy… I've never been happier… never…_

She leaned over, closer to him, and their lips met in a kiss.

**End Flashback**

Sayuri sat in the hospital room, tears pouring out of her just as they had that night. 

"But… we never had the wedding, did we? Only a few days later, we were both at the doctor's office, waiting for my friend to come out, so we could tell her the good news… and then one of the nurses spotted you, and asked if she could give you a check up. At first I was worried she was getting fresh with you, Neko-koishii… but then she called the doctor over, and they both looked at you… a few scans and x-rays later, we were informed that you had stomach cancer…" she stopped, and gripped his hand tighter in hers. She leaned over, and buried her face in his hand, softly sobbing.

_We could've been so happy… why do these things always have to happen at the best times of your life?_

She managed to stop her sobbing, and stood up from her chair. She sat down on the edge of his hospital bed, and gazed at his peaceful, sleeping face. She fondly brushed some stray strands of peach colored hair from his eyes.

"But… enough of my crying. It isn't helping you…." She paused. "The doctors say that your cancer is still new enough, that it can still be treated. When can still get married and live happily ever after." Sayuri glanced down at the golden ring on her finger. A few more stray tears escaped from the corners of her eyes, landing on her lover's chest. "And, as soon as I get my pay check from Slade, that is the first thing we're going to do."

She stood up from the hospital bed, and slipped Takeshi one last kiss before leaving.

**(A/N- *eating Snaps * If you didn't get something in that last chapter, reread it. There's A LOT of filler info in there, and you gotta read it thoroughly to get it all.**

**So, anyway… ^^ I hope you enjoyed it. A few people were asking me to tell you more about Sayuri, and… there you have it. I was planning on putting this filler in a little later in the story, but I guess it's better that you know everything near the beginning. Plus, I do hate leaving y'all in the dark.**

**Also, if anyone knows more about stomach cancer, that they'd like to share with me, I would very much appreciate knowing. All I know is that it leaves the victim in excruciating pain, and that they are usually prescribed strong drugs to ease it… but sometimes those don't even work. So… yeah. Review, alright?! Please!!!!!!!)**


	6. Chapter 5: Negotiating

**{(Chapter 5- Negotiating)}**

When Sayuri got back to Slade's "secret lair", she found that he had woken up Starfire. The teenage girl was tied up with -really thick- ropes, and Slade was sitting down next to her; trying his best at interrogation. 

"But… he really doesn't have any battle weakness? _At all?_"

Sayuri smirked when she saw Starfire. The girl looked calm, quiet, and stubborn. Every inch the frustrating captive.

"No." she replied, quite coolly. "And even if he did, you would not be able to beat him."

Slade fumed for a moment. "I don't want to beat him! I could do that without your help. I need to know his weaknesses so I can improve him once he's my apprentice."

Starfire smiled sweetly at him. "Slade, I may not yet be entirely familiar with this planet's customs, but I do know what a lie is."

"But I'm not lying!"

Neither Slade nor Starfire noticed Sayuri come in, until they heard her loud laughter from the room's entryway.

Slade turned to glare at her. "And where have you been? You've been gone for hours!"

Sayuri walked further into the room, and kneeled down on the floor next to Starfire. She got over her laughs, and turned to face Slade; shooting him a sharp stare. "I'm so sorry… I didn't know I had a curfew."

"I never said you had a curfew. It's just that if I'm going to PAY someone for their services, I expect them to let me know what they're DOING every once in a while."

"That's not your problem. Your problem is that you're too used to being in charge of EVERYTHING. If you keep up this bossy behavior, I'm going to have to demand a bonus."

"A _bonus_?!" Slade nearly yelled. "You'll be lucky if you're paid _at all_!"

"What the heck does that mean? If you don't pay me, I will _KILL_ you, Slade!"

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise!"

"A promise? A little money possessive, aren't yo-"

Starfire interrupted him, frowning. "Excuse me, but I do not normally like listening to people quarrel, and listening to you two even converse normally does not interest me in the least. Isn't there something else you could be doing?"

Sayuri relented. She turned to look at Starfire. "You have a point." She turned back to Slade. "So, are you done questioning her?"

The masked man shook his head in frustration. "No. She won't tell me anything I don't already know."

Sayuri shrugged. "I didn't really think she would... So, Starfire… do you have any questions for us, since we're done questioning you? It's really, only fair. And, I think it'd be rather fun to answer your questions. I mean, you have _NO_ way of telling Robin or the others… it won't do us any harm. So… got any questions?"

Starfire nodded. "Yes!"

"Well…?"

"I've noticed that everyone in this room has a name starting with S… is that just a… coincidence?"

Slade thought about that for a minute. "Slade… Sayuri… Starfire… you're right."

Sayuri stared at Slade, then burst out laughing.

Starfire looked over at Sayuri, confused. "Why are you laughing so hard? Surely this name coincidence is not _that_ funny."

Sayuri shook her head, trying to stop herself from laughing. "It's… just… that…" she paused for a minute, calming herself. "I've never seen Slade look so clueless."

Slade glared at her. "Oh, yeah? … er… Well, I've never seen anyone look so… _ugly_!"

Starfire raised her eyebrows. "You do not act at all like this when you are around us."

Slade turned to look at her and frowned. "Well, unlike this intolerable redhead here, you children don't stress me out enough to make me snap… even though Robin is continuing to escape my grasp…"

"That reminds me of my second question. If it is Robin you want, why have you kidnapped me?"

Sayuri scratched her head for a minute, and then nodded. "Alright. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell."

She promptly launched into an explanation of her plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Back at the Titan Tower…_

Robin had never really thought of himself as a religious person… but now he found himself praying constantly.

"Please… just let Star be alright…" the prayers went… or, "I'll do anything you want, just bring her back safe!"

Cyborg was equally worried, but was not praying. Instead, he and Beast Boy were using their frustrated energy to try and help Raven recover. But- she still hadn't woken up, despite all of their efforts. 

Beast Boy, of course, was more stressed then any of them. One of his friends had been kidnapped, and his girlfriend was in a coma of some sort. Things weren't looking up at all for him.

"Raven… Raven, please…" he whispered to her, as he poured a sip of water into her mouth. "You have to wake up… we have to find Star, you know? And we can't do it… without you."

Beast Boy stopped talking when he heard Robin walk into the room. He turned around to face his friend.

"Is she awake yet?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy shook his head.

"Beast Boy…" Robin started, his voice soft with regret. "I have to go and rescue Starfire soon, and I can't do it alone. I know you don't want to leave Raven, but-"

Beast Boy cut him off with a sharp shake of the head. "I'm not going to leave her."

"But you have to! What about Star?!"

Beast Boy hesitated. "… You can rescue her on your own."

"You really think I can take on Slade AND that new girl, all on my own?"

"Well… no, I guess n-"

He was interrupted by a loud beep, from Robin's communication radio.

"Robin…" The radio beeped and crackled. "Robin, are you listening? You'd better be…"

Beast Boy stared at the small radio.

"Who's that, Robin? It sounds like a girl, but… the voice doesn't sound familiar."

"I think that's Slade's new employee… Sayuri."

"Well, answer it!"

Robin nodded, and pushed the talk button on his radio.

"What is it?" he asked into the radio, unclipping it from his utility belt and holding it up. "What do you want from me?"

"Oh, good. You're there." Sayuri said, her voice crackling over the transmission. "I'm going to give the radio to Slade now. He needs to be the one to talk to you, since I'll be holding a gun to your girlfriend's head. Incase any of the negotiations go wrong."

Robin gulped, and turned to look at Beast Boy. They both exchanged a significant glance.

It was obvious who had the upper hand here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

_Back in Slade's lair…_

Sayuri was now sitting down next to Starfire, who was still tied up.  Sayuri didn't seem to notice that Starfire was slowly working off the ropes binding her hands.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Slade was holding up Starfire's communication radio. His voice was it's usual cold, taunting drawl, as he spoke into it.

"So, Robin… It's nice to talk to you again. Are you missing your girlfriend yet?"

Starfire suddenly forgot about her struggle with the ropes. She looked up at Slade. "Girlfriend? That is what they refer to their mates as, here on earth, I think."

Sayuri gave her a nod. "Pretty much."

Starfire glanced back at Sayuri, and saw a look of hurt in the other girl's eyes. "What is wrong? Did I say something to upset you?"

Sayuri shook her head. "No. It's just that…" she stopped herself. "Know what? You shouldn't care if you upset me! You're supposed to hate me."

Starfire just shrugged. "Hate is not a feeling we share often on Tamaran. I do not yet know you, so I do not think I can hate you just yet."

Sayuri looked at her in disbelief. "But… I kidnapped you. If I wanted to, I could kill you right now."

Again, Starfire shrugged. But before she had time to answer, Robin's voice crackled on over the radio. His voice was hurt and angry.

"You'd better not have harmed a hair on her head."

Starfire glanced over at Sayuri, and saw that the girl's face had softened into that same look of hurt. 'I have to find out more about this girl. I do not think she's anything like Slade… there might be a way out of here… if I can only figure out the secret behind this… Sayuri.'

She shoved her thoughts aside as she heard Slade's cold chuckle echo from across the room.

"I haven't done anything to harm her… yet."

Robin's voice was more furious then ever. "If you hurt her in any way, I won't let you live to regret it, Slade."

"If you don't want her hurt, you have to follow my instructions… and be precise with every last detail of them. If you don't, I'll be forced to kill your little girlfriend."

For a moment, the radio was silent. Starfire was afraid that she wouldn't be worth it to Robin. But, then he finally responded, his voice strained and reluctant to be obeying Slade's commands.

"Fine. I'll do whatever you want."

"Good, good. Now, listen carefully. My hideout is in the same place it was the last time you were there. You do remember don't you? Now, I want you to come here tomorrow, at noon. No one else may come with you. The second I find out you brought a friend, I'll shoot the girl. Is that clear?"

"… Yes. What do you want me to do when I get to your lair?"

"You'll see. Just be there, or the girl will be the one to pay."

"… Fine."

The radio went dead.

**(A/N- Yes. This chapter sucked. I know. Don't complain too much, alright? I know what my plot line's going to be… I'm having a really difficult time expressing my ideas, though. . My writer's block usually doesn't last long… hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! Please review! ^^**

**Oh… and I guess I should respond to some of my reviews…**

**Archaon666****- Zacharias? That's a neat character name. I'll have to check out your fic sometime. And, yes… I really don't like Robin/Raven fics. I have no clue where people got the idea that they like each other… at least with Starfire and Robin; they have chemistry on the show, ne?**

**Cheerful Oblivious****- Thank you very much! I greatly appreciate the help!**

**Shimmersea****- Thanks for all the help and reviews! ^^; Though, I'm sorry you still think my character's a Mary-Sue. I guess… I'm just an uncreative author… ne? Oh, well…**

**Thanks again for all the reviews, you guys! Please keep them coming!!!)**


	7. Chapter 6: Nightmares

**{(Chapter 6- Nightmares)}**

The second after Robin cut off his transmission with Slade; he felt his knees give way beneath him. Beast Boy noticed just in time to catch him as he fell.

"…Robin?" Beast Boy prodded, hesitantly.

Sobs of relief were shaking Robin's shoulders.

"She's… safe." He managed to whisper. His voice was hoarse with emotion. "She's safe, and there's a way to get her back… and… she's _safe._"

Beast Boy was a little surprised. "What…? Dude, just a few seconds ago, you were convinced that she was safe, and there was a way to rescue her… and you were trying to convince me of the same… so I would leave Raven…"

Robin looked up at his friend. "I'm sorry. I wanted to sound confident so you would help me. But… I didn't know for sure. Of course I didn't. But… she's safe." He shook his head in relief. "_She's safe, she's safe, she's safe_."

Beast Boy allowed himself a small smile. "You must care about her a lot... You should hear yourself."

Robin responded with a sudden silence.

Beast Boy's eyes widened, and he dropped Robin to the ground in surprise. "DUDE! You **DO**! You **LOVE** her!" He paused a moment, letting a grin creep up his face. "Robin and Starfire sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N…"

Presently, Cyborg walked into the room. He smirked when he heard what was going on. "Geeze, BB, get a hold of yourself. You're making all this commotion over Robin and Starfire? That's OLD news."

Beast Boy and Robin both felt their mouths fall open in shock.

"_WHAT_?!" Beast Boy nearly yelled. "Why am I always the last one to know these things?"

Simultaneously, Robin shouted, "What do you mean "OLD NEWS?" Can't a guy even keep a secret anymore?!"

Cyborg shrugged. "By the way… I came in here because my sensors detected some radio transmission coming from this room… who were you talking to?"

Beast Boy suddenly remembered the radio message. He quickly sobered. "Slade."

"Oh? What'd he want?"

This time Robin answered. "He said that he wanted me to come to his lair tomorrow… Alone."

"You really gonna risk that?"

"There's no other choice… I'd much rather risk going alone, then risk Star's life."

Cyborg shrugged. "It's your choice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why is it that you keep referring to me as Robin's "girlfriend"? Robin and I are just friends."

Slade ignored Starfire's question, and pretended to have his attention focused on his video screen. It showed live feed from the spy camera Sayuri had planted outside of the Titan's Tower. Slade was watching to make sure Robin didn't leave before he was supposed to. Or that he didn't leave with any of the other titans.

Sayuri was sitting in the corner of the room, probing the inner wires of a small, but complex computer chip; checking whether it was still operating. Busy though she was, she heard Starfire's question.

"We know that the two of you aren't together yet. But calling you his girlfriend helps remind him of his feelings for you… even if he's not in a relationship at the moment."

"… What feelings?"

Sayuri looked up from poking at the computer chip. Starfire noticed that her face carried the same look of regret that it'd had before.

"He cares for you, hon. Probably more then anyone else he knows. And it goes deeper then that."

Starfire felt herself blush. But… what could this villain know?

"How… do you know what Robin is feeling?"

_Because I've seen it before…_ Sayuri thought. _Oh… I need this money so much… but do I have the right to mess with this puppy love?_

Sayuri just shrugged in response to Star's question. She dropped her gaze back down to the digital chip, and continued prodding it.

Starfire dropped the subject, and reverted her attention back to undoing her ropes. She brushed the ones binding her hands up against the box she was propped up against. Gradually, she felt the edge of the box sawing into the ropes. 

She continued this for a few minutes, when…

"Could you stop that?"

Starfire's eyes widened as she looked up to find Sayuri watching her.

"I don't really mind if you get free. It'll only take a few seconds to tie you back up, after all. But that sawing sound you're making is getting on my nerves."

"… Why would it annoy you? It is a very small sound."

"And it's very quiet in here. You know, this chip is very complicated, for it's size. It's really hard to concentrate on checking its circuits. Especially with you carrying on over there."

Starfire's face suddenly stiffened, as she remembered her captor's plans. "I do not care if your procedure is altered by my noise. I very much hope it is."

And she went back to edging at the ropes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night…

Robin was gradually making his way through the city. He crept silently through the night's shadows, thinking about how reckless he was being. Honestly, this route was very dangerous, and so he had to be very careful… all it would take was one hidden camera, and Slade would instantly know that his little "apprentice" wasn't where he should be.

And that wouldn't be good for Starfire. Not at all.

So, Robin would just have to be cautious.

He eventually found the familiar entrance to Slade's secret lair. He slowly slid the hidden door aside, being careful not to make a sound.

However, it didn't seem that it made much of a difference anyway.

"Come on in, Robin." He heard Slade's taunting voice echo from the inside of the lair.

Robin reluctantly walked inside, looking around and surveying his surroundings.

"I see you've redecorated."

Indeed he had. What Robin was walking on was not a floor, but a rough, bridge-shaped rock. The "bridge" stretched from one side of the room -the entrance- to the other. Only a few feet underneath the bridge, was a river of boiling lava.

From the other side of the room, Slade chuckled coldly. "Well, yes. I was going for the lake of lava cliché."

Robin looked up at Slade, finally noticing him. Across the bridge, the masked man was on a large rock plateau, and sitting on a tall, golden chair- much resembling a throne. Next to him, on a fairly shorter throne, was that girl- Sayuri. Her hair was tied up in a regal manner, and she was wearing a cloak colored with red and dark gray colors he'd come to associate with Slade.

He took him a few moments to realize someone was missing.

"Where's Starfire?" he asked sternly.

Both Slade and Sayuri ignored his question.

"Have a seat, Robin. Relax." Sayuri's voice sounding strangely smooth and seductive.

"No!" Robin said, more forcefully. "Tell me what you've done with Starfire!!"

Slade shrugged and pressed a button on his armrest. The door behind Robin shut itself with a heavy clunk. "You might as well listen to her. You will be staying here for a long time… You might as well make yourself comfortable."

Robin didn't even seem to notice Slade was talking. His mind was suddenly filled with a sense of dread. Why didn't they answer his question?!

"WHERE IS SHE?!?!?!" he demanded.

Sayuri casually gestured towards the hot lava below. "Down there… somewhere… maybe…"

Robin stared at the lava she'd gestured towards, his eyes wide. "You… You… You didn't…"

Sayuri chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you always thought she was hot. Now EVERYONE can honestly agree with you."

Robin didn't find the joke funny. Not at all.

_But… I have to save her… I have to save her somehow… there must be a way…_

Without thinking, he jumped off the bridge… following Starfire into the hot lava.

"Robin! No!" Slade shouted behind him.

 But it was too late.

Robin bolted upright in his bed, panting heavily from his fright. He put a hand to his forehead, and noticed that it was surprisingly warm. Beads of hot sweat rolled down his face; mingling with the cold tears still pouring from the corners of his eyes.

Wait… tears?

He shook his head, mentally scolding himself for getting so worked up over a dream. 'Stop it. It's just your stupid imagination. Starfire's still FINE. And if anyone can rescue her, you can… So, stop!'

**(A/N- Or, as the Fremen say, don't give moisture to the dead, if they're still living. ^__^;;; Sorry, folks. I'm reading The Dune series, and I'm LOVING some of the quotes I'm getting from these books… even if they don't make much sense to others.)**

Robin crawled out of his bed, and made his way downstairs, to pour himself a glass of water. He walked into the kitchen, but stopped in his tracks when he heard someone moving around in the living room. 

_An intruder… a thief, maybe… or could it be Slade?_ he wondered.

He quietly padded over to the room, and stopped just outside the doorway, peeking his head inside.

_I can't see anything… it's too dark in here… Wait… is that a person over there by the couch…? I can hardly see him…_

"Slade?" he asked the dark figure.

He didn't get any response, though. The figure began to turn around to face him.

_If it was a thief, they would have run by now… and if it was any other self-respecting villain, they would've identified themselves… It's gotta be Slade… oh, man! I wish I had my utility belt._

But, Robin wouldn't wait for Slade to make the first move. He rushed towards the figure, and rammed into it; easily pinning, whoever it was, to the ground.

It only took Robin a few seconds to analyze that the person was not nearly heavy or bulky enough to be Slade. He peered through the darkness, trying to adjust his eyes enough to look at the intruder.

Before he could, however, he heard Beast Boy's loud footsteps descending down the stairs. 

"What's with all the racket? How do you expect a guy to sleep with all this commotion downstairs?"

The green-skinned boy hurriedly turned on the room's lights. His eyes widened when he saw what exactly was causing all the noise.

"DUDE!! Get off my girlfriend!!"

Robin looked back down at the "intruder", and gasped. It wasn't Slade. It wasn't even a stranger, for that matter.

It was Raven.

She was staring at him, her eyes wide in shock, and her features still looking a little weak. He quickly pushed himself off her, feeling his face go red as he deeply apologized to both Raven and Beast Boy.

"… I guess I'm just a little jumpy tonight…" he sighed.

Beast Boy nodded then turned back to Raven. He tried his best to hide his immense relief that she was finally up. "So…" he attempted a joke. "Has Sleeping Beauty finally decided she's had enough beauty rest?"

Raven sighed and sat herself back down on the couch she'd be lying on earlier. "Yes."

Beast Boy grinned, and hurried over to her. He sat down next to her, and grabbed her in a tight embrace. "I'm glad."

Robin smiled and shook his head. 

"Well, at least one of the titans has his girl back." Beast Boy said, looking at Robin as he finally released Raven from his grasp.

Raven managed a small smirk. "So, Robin's finally admitted his little crush then?"

Beast Boy's mouth dropped open. "Oh my gosh! You too?! Why does EVERYONE know EVERYTHING before me?!"

Robin shook his head again. "I'm afraid to ask how you knew that, Raven… Anyway, how are you feeling?"

Raven shrugged. "A little light-headed. But, I'm lucky this joker was around to take care of me."

She glanced at Beast Boy, and he grinned.

But, Robin could still see the tiredness and fatigue in her movements, and it infuriated him. Slade had no right to mess with his friends like this. And he would pay for doing as much.

_I'll make sure of that._

**(A/N- Muwahahaha… Okay, so I didn't really leave you at a cliffhanger this time. Next chapter, Robin finally arrives at Slade's hideout! Yep… sessha is done stalling. ^^ Hope you enjoyed this chapter… It was intended to be short, and I have no idea how I managed to write it out so long. Please forgive me if it was dull.**

**Also… I love all my readers. Really, I do. The only thing I love more is my reviewers. ^^ So, PLEASE, PLEASE review!!!)**


	8. Chapter 7: Two Choices

**{(Chapter 7- Two Choices)}**

The next morning, Robin woke up to find himself sprawled out –in a very uncomfortable position- over the living room couch.

I must have fallen asleep while Raven, Beast Boy and I were talking last night… ugh… I'm gonna be so sore…

He lazily rolled himself over… and accidentally fell off the couch.

**Thump!**

Robin was still too tired to acknowledge the pain shooting up his back. He groaned quietly, and lay there for a couple moments, savoring the few minutes of quiet he'd get today. However, it didn't last long.

"Hey, dawg…" He heard Cyborg's yawning voice at the living room's entryway. "Yo… you awake yet, Robin?"

Still too tired to reply, Robin let out a small groan in response.

Cyborg smirked and turned his gaze on the couch. "Hey, BB, you awake to--…. _Whoa_…………"

"Huh? What is it, Cy?" Robin asked.

"…………….."

Robin -curious to see what had left Cyborg speechless- lifted up his head, and craned his neck to look up at the couch.

He saw Raven first. She was slumped over the side of the couch, her head rested peacefully on her arm. Beast Boy was laying surprisingly close to her. In fact, his neck was perched over her shoulder, and his mouth was an inch away from her cheek. The rest of his body was comfortably on top of hers, his arms wrapped around her waist, and his legs were arranged with one on each side of Raven.

Robin was positive that the two had not fallen asleep in that position, and had probably subconsciously wrapped themselves together in their sleep.

But, while the logical side of his mind was registering these thoughts, the more primitive half of it was making his eyes widen in shock. He quickly put his hand up over his eyes, trying to block out the picture.

"Argh!! BAD mental image!!!"

Cyborg got over his shocked trance, and started to laugh at the situation. Robin shook his head, still mumbling that that was NOT a picture he'd have chosen to wake up to.

All the noise was more then enough to wake up both Beast Boy and Raven.

It took the two a few moments to fully wake up, and access their situation. When they did, the two were off each other in a fraction of a second, both blushing profusely.

Cyborg was still cracking up. He eventually calmed himself down enough to say, "Sorry to wake you, BB. Ya seemed to be enjoying yourself."

He cracked up again when he saw Beast Boy's face flush deeper in embarrassment. Raven's cheeks were turning pink, but her voice was calm and sharp. 

"Cut it out. That was _not_ what happened."

Cyborg stopped abruptly. But he still shook his head in amusement.

"Whateva… I'm glad to see your up, by the way."

Raven nodded, the faintest traces of a smile pulling at the edges of her mouth. But her tone was still emotionless as she turned to Robin, changing the subject.

"G'Morning, Robin. When do you plan on leaving to get Starfire?"

The humor in the air instantly deflated itself. Robin's eyes widened.

"Oh, man… how could I let myself get distracted?! I have to leave NOW!"

He jumped up and, in less then a second, he was out the door.

Beast Boy shook his head, amused. A little out of the blue, he recalled a phrase that Robin had once told him. "… Yep… Love _does_ do strange things to you..."

Raven nodded as she watched the door slam shut behind Robin.

"Yes. It certainly does."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Meanwhile, in Slade's "secret lair"…_

Sayuri's face was solemn as she readjusted Starfire's loosening ropes. She tied in a few feet of new material over the old, wearing ones. Starfire winced as Sayuri tightened the ropes a little more tightly the necessary. She was sure that there would be red and purple marks all over her wrists when this was over.

"Sorry, hon…" Sayuri whispered, as she tightened the ropes yet again.

Starfire did her best to ignore the rope's stinging crush on her wrists, and turned her head to look at Sayuri. "If you are sorrowful over what you do, then why do you continue?"

Sayuri met her gaze for a moment, and then looked back down at the ropes. "Because you insisted on trying to saw these ropes off… I have to replace them before Robin gets here."

Starfire shook her head. "That is not what I meant."

Before Sayuri could respond, Slade interrupted them. He called Sayuri over to his giant video screen.

Sayuri let out an exasperated sigh, and quickly finished tying up Starfire. As she stood up, Slade's cold voice once again rang across the hideout.

"Sayuri! Are you coming or not?"

"_Yes_, Slade! I'm coming! Gosh darn it… don't have a heart attack."

She walked over to where Slade was sitting, and he turned to look at her.

"I'll ignore that last comment, for your sake."

Sayuri scoffed. Slade ignored it.

"Look at the screen."

Sayuri obeyed, and stared at the front of the Titan's tower. It looked just the same as it always did… No activity… No movement… _Just what is it I'm looking for?_

As if hearing her thought, Slade said, "Just wait a minute more. Robin just woke up."

Almost as if on cue, the screen showed Robin rushing out the front door of the tower, slamming it shut behind him. The camera automatically panned back, and showed the boy wonder dashing down the street, in the direction of Slade's hideout.

Sayuri shrugged, and started walking back to Starfire. "So what? We both knew he'd be coming today."

Slade turned his chair around to face her. "What? No gloating? No showing off about how you were right?"

Sayuri suddenly stopped. She turned on her heel to face Slade - a vein throbbing dangerously in her forehead. Her voice, though, was surprisingly quiet and cold. "Slade. It seems to me that you have badly misjudged my character."

She turned back around, afraid to look at him any longer, lest her anger burst.

Slade gave a slight shrug, and turned back to face the screen. "Let's drop it. Right now, we must get ready for my apprentice's arrival.

Sayuri sighed and glanced at Starfire. The girl's facial expressions seemed to betray her every emotion. Hurt, worry, confusion… and a little hope too. It wrenched at Sayuri's heart how much pain she would cause this young couple.

She shook her head sadly, and walked back over to the corner of Slade's lair. She still had some work to do, to prepare the nano chip, afterall.

Whether she liked her job or not, it was a necessity. 

And she would not let Takeshi down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin was still running across town, not bothering to notice who or what he ran into on the way. In fact, presently, he was in the process of jumping over another one of the street's many vending machines.

_I can't believe I let myself get distracted! … Even for a moment… Oh, Starfire… Please hang on…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starfire attempted to wiggle her hands out of the new ropes, but only managed to make them tighter. She closed her eyes and let out a grunt of frustration.

_… What must Robin think of me? I am inside the enemy's hideout, yet I am totally unable to do anything… Oooh… how frustrating this is…_

She opened her eyes, and looked around the room – once again, observing her surroundings. Slade was still watching his video screen. He seemed to be entertained with watching his "apprentice."

But, the screen also held interest for Starfire. It gave her a lot of encouragement to see Robin sprinting down the city sidewalk.

_I am going to be rescued soon… My departure from this wretched place is long overdue…_

She continued watching him for a long while; her eyes glued to the screen. Until, at last, he arrived at the hideout's entryway.

Sayuri stood up from her place in the corner, and tucked the computer chip into her pocket. She walked across the room to Starfire, and knelt down beside her.

A loud knocking echoed around the room. Sayuri took her cue, and quickly formed a spirit bullet on the end of her finger. She held up her hand/spirit gun, and pointed it directly at Starfire's head.

"Be prepared to shoot if he moves to attack." Slade commanded her.

Sayuri nodded solemnly. In response, Slade reached back to the mini control console attached to his chair, and pushed a few buttons on it. Slade's heavy metal door slid open with a pneumonic hiss.

Robin stopped his hand, in the middle of what would have been a rather loud bang on Slade's front door. He dropped his arm back down to his side, and walked cautiously into the dark, cold room. He looked around, glad to see that there was no stone plateaus or lakes of lava in sight.

"Robin!!"

His head snapped in the direction of Starfire's panicked voice. Through the room's shadows, he saw a small orange glow of energy illuminating Starfire's face.

"Robin! You must leave _now_!"

Robin blinked in confusion. _What?_ "But, Star… I'm here to save you! I'm not leaving without you!"

Slade cold chuckle echoed from the other side of the room. Robin heard him click a few commands into his little control panel, and a dim light filled the room.

Robin quickly looked around the room again. Now he could clearly see all of the room's occupants. Starfire was tightly bound by some thick looking ropes, and propped up against the wall to the left of Robin. Sayuri was knelt down on her knees next to the girl, with a ready-to-fire spirit blast pointed at the alien teen's head.

Slade was a few dozen feet, right in front of Robin.

The masked man stood up from his bulky, metal chair, and walked over a little closer to Robin.

"Well, well, Robin… it seems that I once again have you in my grasp. How very amusing. I'll assume you've come here to bring home your little girlfriend."

Robin clenched his fist in anger at the man. "Yes. That's why I came."

"And I suppose you're wondering what we want in exchange for her."

"No."

"Oh? Tell me, what do you think we want in exchange?"

"You want me."

Sayuri couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Bravo. Your apprentice is a _real_ Sherlock, Slade."

Slade let out an aggravated sigh. "You just couldn't let me have my moment of dramatic suspense, could you?"

"Dramatic suspense? Give me a break. The testosterone you two were giving off was beginning to stink up the room."

Slade strongly resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Robin looked from Slade to Sayuri in surprise. _I've never seen two villains bicker with each other before… _He shook his head to clear the thought.

"So… I guess this is the part where I give you your choice. Release Starfire now, or I'll have to fight you for her."

Sayuri shook her head, and stood up where she was. She slowly walked over to Robin, still pointing her fired-up attack at Starfire.

"I believe you've switched our roles around, Robin. _We_ are not the ones with the choice. See, this is how it is… We have Starfire right where we want her. If you even make the slightest move that looks like an attack, I'll fire this gun. And I have no doubt the attack would kill her. If you do what I say, however, I will let this girl go, unharmed."

She hesitated for a moment, fighting off the strong regret rushing through her. "It's either you or Starfire. And it is _you_ who must choose, Robin." 

**(A/N- Cliffhanger! Don't you hate it? Don't worry… I'm already in the process of writing the next chapter. It should be up by Sunday or Monday… it'll definitely be up on Tuesday, though! I have school off! Yayness! ^^**

**Please review!!!)**


	9. Chapter 8: Decision

**{(Chapter 8- Decision)}**

Robin's mind was churning. Dozens upon dozens of calculations ran through his mind.

It would only take me a matter of seconds to run over to Sayuri and attack… he thought …that would stop her from shooting Starfire, certainly… but, even so… it'd only take her half a second to see what I was doing, and fire her attack… I guess there's no other way…

He lowered his head in mock defeat. "All right… I'll stay here. Just… let Starfire go." _… After all… I can always escape afterwards… and I will… just as soon as she's safe…_

Starfire seemed to read his mind. "No, Robin! You must not do this! If you give into their demands, there will be no way to go back on them!"

Sayuri increased the size of her spirit bullet. "Please keep quiet. You'll be able to leave soon."

She reached into her pocket with her free hand, and pulled out the computer chip she'd been poking at earlier.

"Listen to me, Robin. And listen carefully. If you truly choose to save this girl, and stay here, you'll be required to first activate this….. It may look like an ordinary digital chip, but it is much more complicated then that. Instead of altering the memory base of computer's, like a normal computer chip, it changes the memory waves of humans."

Robin's eyes widened in surprise. "How?"

"The electromagnetic waves in this chip have been programmed to the frequency of a human mind. Just as a computer chip can read the information of a computer, and change it around, this chip can erase, add, and alter sections of your memory. Your memory, of course, is what makes up a great deal of your mind. Without it, you would be just like a newborn baby. And without certain parts of it… we could change you around to be an entirely new person."

She took a breath, and continued. "Of course, this particular one won't erase a really large amount of your mind. All it will do is erase your morals… and, of course, your memory of being in the Teen Titans."

Robin let his gaze drop to the floor. "So… Starfire's right, then… if I choose to become your apprentice, there really will be no way of going back…"

Slade nodded. "Yes. That's right. And you'll be such a _loyal_ apprentice… no more of that attitude I had to put up with last time."

_Not to mention escape attempts_, Sayuri thought grimly, _since you can't seem to handle even the most pathetic examples of those… _But, out loud, she said nothing. Her throat was constricted with emotion. Grief - mostly, over what she was doing. If there were any better way, she would take it in a heartbeat.

Well… I could always have kept that money I got from that bank vault… She sighed, remembering what had happened. 

When she'd first become frantic over her great need for money… her first thought had been that of any normal criminal-to-be. To go rob a bank.

So, that's what she'd done… it had been a perfect robbery, too. Only… she slipped up on her escape. One of the town's members had seen her running down the street.

Of all the bad luck!

The next day, she was in the newspapers. Underneath the whole story of how mysterious her crime had been, and how even more mysterious she'd _looked_ (according to the man who'd seen her), was a small section covering all that had been affected by her robbery of the bank.

A few small companies, that'd had the majority of their money stored in that bank vault, had gone bankrupt. And not only them, but families too!

Innocent people were suffering… and it was because of her.

That had been a thought she couldn't stand. The next day, the bank vaults money had mysteriously reappeared.

Ironically enough _that_ little tid-bit of information had not been included in the newspaper the next day.

Sayuri snapped out of her reflection of her first crime, when Robin, sounding very determined, spoke up once more.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Robin had been expecting Sayuri to gloatingly smile when he said this. Instead, her face seemed to take on a saddened expression.

She nodded, and wordlessly handed him the microchip. It was almost as if she didn't trust her voice enough to speak.

**(A/N- MICROCHIP! OMG, that's the word! I was trying SO HARD to think up what you CALLED those things, but I couldn't remember! I wanted to say nanochip, but Microsoft Word _insisted_ that no such word existed…… But, yayness… I finally thought up the word.)**

Robin stared at the small chip after she handed it to her. He held it up closer to his face; seemingly mesmerized by the complexity of the tiny little wires and circuits.

"This may seem like a trivial question, but… where are you guys getting all this new technology?"

Silence. Then Starfire's confused voice.

"What technology are you referring to? The small device in your hand is certainly marvelous, but not that much so… I have seen better on Tamaran."

Robin shrugged. "There's that, and the fact that you aren't able to break out of your ropes."

Sayuri nodded, understanding what he meant by "all this new technology", now. She took a few moments to find her voice, and then answered.

"Well, the ropes belong to Slade. I think he said he had one of those people from that "hive" place… I think her name was Jinx… but anyway, she cast some sort of spell on the ropes to make them super strong, and difficult to break for anyone opposing Slade. Something about bad luck…"

Slade nodded.

Sayuri continued on. "This chip, on the other hand, is mine. My…" she hesitated a beat, unsure if she should tell the trio in front of her this information. She sighed and shrugged. "My fiancé used to be the head of a new technologic research facility… he quit quite a few months ago… but, one of his friend's there had been working on this chip's developmental project for some time. They just finished with it about a month ago. It took some begging, but my fiancé's friend eventually built me a special prototype of it… You really should feel… _honored_. These things are rare." She swallowed back a sob building in her throat. _I hate having to act so heartless._

Robin sighed and looked back down at the microchip. He spotted the molecular suctions on the corners of it, and promptly activated them. He then attached the chip to the side of his head – right above his left ear.

"Well? What do I need to do to activate this… thing?"

Sayuri glanced down. "It's programmed to respond to your voice patterns. Just say the word "erase", and it will perform the duty it was built to do."

Robin shot a short glare at her. "That's a nice way of saying it'll era--…… delete my memories."

Sayuri couldn't help but snap back at him. "It's not like it'll be erasing all of them!"

Robin cocked an eyebrow, feeling it twitch in fury. "Oh, really? Let's see… you're getting rid of all my morals… half of my past… and my entire memory of Starfire!! Geeze, woman! You'll only be taking away the most important things in my life! Why _not_ take away everything?"

Starfire stared at Robin. _Did… he just say-… Did I interpret that correctly?_

Robin didn't seem to catch what he'd said, even though Starfire did. Sayuri heard it as well. She turned around, so that no one in the room could see her face. It was being drenched in a sudden rush of tears.

Oh, Lord… what am I doing? She thought to herself. …What on earth am I doing? 

Slade smirked. "That's sweet. Really. Now, say goodbye and complete your attitude readjustment."

Robin took a deep breath, and then turned to face Starfire. He tried his best to hold in the sudden rush of sadness, anger, and overall angst filling him. When he looked at her, though, his eyes were filled with the deepest look of sorrow Starfire had ever seen.

"Starfire…" he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "I guess I'm going to have to forget about you now… I'm so sorry for that…" he paused, trying his best to keep his voice under control. "…But, promise me something. Please, don't ever forget me."

Starfire's tears were now spilling down her cheeks. She shook her head fiercely. "Never. I could not _ever _forget about you… But neither will I give up on you! You _mustn't_ do this! I am not worth such a sacrifice!"

"You're worth much more then this, Starfire." He said softly.

Starfire let out a muted sob. "Please… no…"

Robin dropped his gaze. "It's so hard to believe I could ever forget someone like you… If this technology weren't right here in front of me, I never would have even considered the possibility… But even so… I know I'll see you in my dreams."

He sighed and looked back up at her. She was still crying, and shaking her head. Other then that, her voice seemed to be caught in her throat.

Slade's cold voice cut in through their emotional moment. "That's enough. Activate the chip, Robin. I can't stand another few minutes of this mushy good-bye."

Robin nodded in resignation.

"Goodbye, then……"

He paused, allowing himself one last glance at Starfire. He managed to give her a watery smile, trying his best to comfort her a little.

_… If there were any other way, I'd take it_…

Robin and Sayuri both thought this at the same time.

"…………… Erase."

More and more tears fell from Starfire's eyes. Sayuri dropped down to her knees, letting her hair fall across her face, hiding her own rush of tears. Slade smiled in triumph.

For a few moments, the chip attached to Robin's head buzzed and whirred. Robin just stared thoughtlessly at the wall across from him.

And then, at last, the chip stopped. Robin blinked a few times, and then looked around at his surroundings.

He voice was quiet, and hesitant. He sounded very confused. "Huh? Where am I? How'd… I get here… wait… I recognize this place… This is… Slade's lair. Who is Slade?"

He glanced over at Sayuri, on the floor. "You look pretty familiar… I don't remember your name, though…" His gaze turned on Starfire, who found that she couldn't meet his dumbfounded look. "But… I don't recognize you at all. Who're you? I'm Robin… I think."

Slade sighed with relief. "The chip has made him a little delirious, I see… but it's worked. Congratulations, Sayuri." He pulled out a small bag of money he'd previously counted out for her. He threw the bag down on the floor beside her. "There's your payment. $50,000, cash, just like you asked. Now get out of my sight!"

Sayuri dried up her tears, and quickly grabbed the bag on the floor. She was scared that Slade would suddenly decide to snatch it back. 

Good. Now I have the money. So, now, let's see if I can't fix this mess I've made… 

She stood up, her face hardening in resolution. _I won't let these two kids suffer because of me... And now that I've gotten my payment, there's nothing **he** can do to stop me._

She silently thanked the heavens that Slade had decided to pay her upfront.

**(A/N- No, I wasn't prepared to kill of Raven, and I was even less prepared to delete Robin's love for (and memory of) Starfire. No, no, no… he'll be getting it back… oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that! _Maybe_ he'll be getting it back… Anyway, read to find out how. It'll be sweet… I do believe.**

**Please review!!! Please, please, please!**

**Oh, and thank you soooo much for all the reviews you guys have already sent in!! I appreciate it sooo much! I have some responses for some of yall.**

**Dark II Raven: ^__^ Thank you!!! I actually had planned to explain further why Starfire couldn't escape… but I suppose I edited it out somewhere. Thank you so much for the reminder!**

**TragicFairyLove: I know what you mean… sometimes it's a little hard to make the story entertaining, while keeping it G. Though, I'm starting to wonder if it shouldn't be PG for the low level of angst…**

**Starre: ROFL! But, I agree with you completely! He looked _stunningly _cool in that outfit Slade had him wearing. His Teen Titan suit is too colorful, in my opinion. But, that's just what it is… my opinion. No hard feelings to Robin. ^^;**

**amskitty214: Whoa… I didn't know there was a new Hidden Emotions on ff.net… what a strange coincidence. Well, I hope your story goes well!**

**And to EVERYONE ELSE: Demo Arigatou!!!! Oh, thank you soooo much for all the kind reviews!!! I love you guys! Please keep reviewing for me! ^^;;;**

**Or… in the infamous words of Chiki;**

**Just go click that button!!)**


	10. Chapter 9: Alliances

**{(Chapter 9- Alliances)}**

Sayuri was still contemplating whether to attack Slade head-on, or grab both Robin and Starfire and teleport out of there. She was leaning towards the latter, and was ready to make her move, when Slade suddenly stepped in front of Robin. Sayuri hesitated, wondering what Slade was going to do.

Slade smirked as he bent down to inspect Robin's face. "So, Robin. Do you really not recognize anyone in this room?"

Robin stared at him with a look of distaste. "It feels like my memory's remaking itself little by little. At the moment, I recognize no one but you."

"And my name is…?"

Robin's voice carried a hint of disgust. "Slade."

"That's right! I'm Slade. Your master."

Robin remained quiet. He silently debated whether the words were true.

"…And as your master, the first task I command you to do is…" _What could I use to test his new lack of morals…? _"Go get yourself a nice car to drive around in."

"Fine."

"Well… go!"

Robin rolled his eyes. "I'm going to need money, stupid."

Slade stared at him in disgust. "You want to pay for it? What I want you to do is _steal_ the car."

Robin faltered. "Oh…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Meanwhile, back at the Titan's Tower…_

Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg were all crowded around the kitchen. Raven was drinking her herbal tea, Cyborg was eating from a pile of bacon and sausages, and Beast Boy was picking at his tofu eggs. They were all completely silent – which was pretty unusual for two of the three titans.

Suddenly, Beast Boy broke the silence.

"So, are we gonna go help him out or what?"

"No," Raven coldly replied. She sighed, regretting her answer. "Robin told us to stay here. As his friends, we should do what he asks."

Cyborg nodded, mumbling out his words through a mouthful of meat.

"Hae shaed Shttar wowd besh ish dasser isht wesh lest."

Raven couldn't help but grimace. "That's digusting."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

Cyborg swallowed all the food down, with effort.

"I… said; He said Star would be in danger if we left."

"Didn't sound like it…" Raven muttered.

Beast Boy smirked and continued eating.

The three sat in silence for a little while longer. Then, after a few minutes, it was broken again. This time by Cyborg.

"So… what do ya guys wanna do while we wait for them?"

Beast Boy blinked. "What do I _want _to do?"

"Yeah."

Beast Boy glanced at Raven then turned back to Cyborg. 

"Nothing that involves you." 

Raven's cheeks actually turned a light shade of pink, from embarrassment. But her voice betrayed no such emotion. "Get those dirty thoughts out of your mind. And if you can't, keep them to yourself."

Beast Boy shrugged. Cyborg burst out laughing.

"Well, BB, she has a point. Anyway, I can't help but think we should be doing something to help out, ya know?"

Raven and Beast Boy both nodded.

"So, if you both agree… how're we gonna help?!"

Raven sighed. "Well, we could start by finishing breakfast."

Cyborg groaned. "But then what?"

"I don't know. We'll see."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at Slade's hideout… 

"In that case… No."

Slade and Sayuri's eyes both widened.

"_What_?" they both demanded.

_What has Sayuri done?!_ Slade thought. _She's failed me! He won't steal! He still has morals!_

_This is perfect…_ Sayuri thought at the same time. _Perfect, Perfect, Perfect!! **Here**'s a way for me to get him outta here!_

"I can't just rob a car lot! Stealing is wrong…"

Starfire looked up, her eyes still glistening with tears. _There is still hope for getting Robin back?_

"…why are you all looking at me like that…?"

"What do you MEAN, why am I looking at you like that?!?!" Slade shouted. "You still want to do GOOD!" He turned to Sayuri. "**YOU!** This is all YOUR fault! WHY DOES HE STILL DO GOOD?!?!"

Sayuri seemed to cower beneath Slade's furious gaze. "I don't know! But I can fix it!"

Slade relented. "What did you say?"

"… I can fix this problem…"

"Explain."

"The only thing wrong is one of the circuits malfunctioned… or something. I can take it back to the person who made it, have him reprogram the chip, and re-wipe Robin's memory of morals and his past as a Titan."

Slade hesitated. "… Fine… you're off the hook… for now. But if you don't get this fixed, I'll have your head, Sayuri."

Sayuri nodded and walked over to Robin. She stood there for a second, seemingly thinking. Then she dragged Robin over to Starfire, putting a hand on the shoulder of each.

"…Why are you taking the girl?"

Sayuri started to glow orange. "We need to release her now that Robin's yours, desu ne? I figure this'll be killing two birds with one stone."

Slade was quiet for a moment, and then nodded. "Fine. Take them. But you'd better be back soon, and with Robin's memory fixed up."

Sayuri couldn't help but smirk as she teleported herself, Robin and Starfire out of the lair. _Come back soon? "Fix-up" his memory? Over my dead body._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starfire was surprised when the room around her briefly went blank. But, soon, instead of black nothingness, she was surrounded by what looked like a Taco Bell parking lot. In front of her, was a shiny, honey colored convertible. She noted that the top was already down.

Sayuri sighed and looked over at Starfire. "You can stand up now."

Starfire struggled for a moment, trying to stand herself up without using her hands. She still felt a little too nauseous to use her powers. It's what came from being locked and tied up in a boring, dark room for so long.

After watching her struggle for a few seconds, Robin stepped up to her and helped her onto her feet. Starfire found that she enjoyed feeling his arms around her, even if for only a moment. His warmth comforted her, and made her heart feel like it was glowing.

When Starfire was back on her feet, Robin took a step back from her. "I'm sorry about that. Are you alright now, miss?"

Starfire's previously "glowing" heart split in two. She was harshly reminded that Robin no longer knew her… and may never remember…

"Yes, I am fine now." She replied, holding the hurt from her voice. "I thank you truly for the favor."

Sayuri saw the interaction, and sighed. _I feel so guilty for all this… but I'll help fix it somehow._

"I'm so sorry…"

Starfire looked up at Sayuri. She thought she saw traces of tears in the other girl's eyes.

"I caused all of this… I'm so sorry, but… there was no other way… if there was, I would have taken it." She paused for a moment. "But… I can help you get his memory back. You're just going to have to trust me."

Starfire didn't hesitate. "Okay. Where are we going to first?"

Sayuri faltered. "W-What? You're going to trust me just like that? But… I was working with the bad team… you're not… holding a grudge for that?"

"I did assume that there was more to you than you showed us…"

Sayuri smiled. "You're a smart girl."

Sayuri walked over to her, and quickly untied the jinxed ropes from Starfire's hands. Starfire thanked her, and rubbed her sore wrists, to get the circulation flowing in them again.

Robin stared at them both blankly, unsure of what they were talking about, or what he should do.

"Well," Sayuri said. "If we're going to… cure Robin, we're gonna have to do some driving…" She gestured towards her car. "So hop in."

Robin nodded, thankful for an instruction that didn't confuse him. He climbed into the backseat of the convertible. Starfire, too, walked around to the other side of the car, and hopped into the passenger seat.

Sayuri smiled and sat herself down in the driver's seat. She turned to Starfire, a little hesitant. "Listen… before we go see my friend about getting Robin back… I need to make a quick stop somewhere else…"

Starfire nodded, and reached to buckle her seatbelt. "Alright. Where is it we are quickly stopping to?"

Sayuri sighed and started the car. "I just need to drop off some money at the hospital."

(A/N- Cliffhanger? Maybe. I'm not sure how you define these things. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It took me quite a while to type out… even though I knew exactly what I wanted to say. Weird, eh?

**Oooh… and thank you SO much for your reviews!!! 122!!!! _YAY_!!! That's a record for me. ^__^;;; Also… I'd like to take this chance to respond to a few reviews I got.**

**LordVaughan: Thank you very much for the advice! I do plan to have the other titans in on the fic, though they're not really starred, like Robin&Starfire. I explained more about this in an e-mail I sent to your public e-mail address… did you get it?**

**Kit Kat: ^__^ Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it very much. The message above also applies to you, I suppose. But I didn't send you an e-mail. *Whispers* I only really send explanation e-mails to people who sound REALLY upset with how I'm writing my story.**

**TragicFairyLove: Yes, indeed. I do hope you'll continue reading.**

**Luna-Chan3: You're right. Couples are really fun to make up. But I can't help but feel that Raven and Beast Boy are meant to be. Their personalities are such opposites… Opposites attract, ne? Raven is what brings out the serious, sentimental side of BB. Beast Boy is what brings out the emotional, loving side of Raven. All-in-all… it's meant to be. Although, I have nothing against Raven/Robin fans. Just because I believe that Raven/BB and Starfire/Robin is meant to be, does not mean everyone does. They don't judge me for my pairings, so I won't judge them for theirs. ^^**

**A.N.D: Yeppers. They do cost a lot. Chemo surgery costs somewhere around 10k per operation. And you usually get more then one. Also, I'm not exactly sure what powers Slade has, but I plan to do some research before posting the big fight scene.**

**That's all for now, folks! Please, please continue to review!!!**

**I love ya all!**

**One last time, though…**

**REVIEW****!!!!)**


	11. Chapter 10: New Looks

**{(Chapter 10- New Looks)}**

"I got it!" Beast Boy shouted, as he dropped morning's dirty dishes into the sink.

Raven cocked an eyebrow. "What do you '_got_'?"

"A way to help out Starfire and Robin?"

"…really?"

"Yep!! Since Slade said he'd be watching to see if WE left the tower, all we need to do is disguise ourselves!"

There was a few moments pause, before Cyborg faked a shocked gasp. "Oh, man, can you believe it? The boy actually came up with a _good_ idea!"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Make fun of me all you want, but it **is** a good idea! Right, Raven?"

Raven nodded. "Yes. It's a good idea. But what about you, though? Your skin is _green_, babe."

Beast Boy grinned at being called 'babe.' The grin faded, though, when he thought over Raven's question. "I guess that would make it a little hard to go undercover…"

Raven nodded. "Though, you could borrow some of Star's foundation, and wear that…… all over your body…"

Cyborg chuckled. "That's an interesting thought."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Maybe I could just morph into some… domestic animal, and come along with you guys as a pet."

Cyborg faked another expression of shock. "That's your second good idea today! Is it a sign of… the apocalypse?!"

Raven shot him a look, then turned back to Beast Boy. "That _is_ a good solution. Cyborg and I can disguise our selves, and you can turn into our pet. But, _what_ are we going to do undercover?"

"Well… I figured we could… find some information on that Sayuri person… or even try and find Robin."

Cyborg nodded, all sarcasm gone. "Tell ya what… after we get all "disguised", we can try to get Robin on his radio."

"Sounds good to me!"

Raven nodded as she stood up and started up the stairs, to her room. "Okay."

Cyborg smiled and left for his room too.

Beast Boy stood alone for a few moments, before letting out a small sigh. _So… what do I do while I wait for them to get ready? Eh… I don't know… I need people…_

He wasn't debating his problem long when Raven came back down the stairs. He quickly noted that she was still dressed in her usual attire.

"What's wrong? Come up with a better idea?"

Raven shook her head, her gaze fixed on the ground. "No. I just… I don't have any 'casual' outfits to wear… undercover."

"You don't have any street clothes?"

Raven cocked an eyebrow at him. "Do I really look like the type to own 'street clothes'?"

Beast Boy grinned and shook his head. "Guess not."

He grabbed her wrist, and hurried upstairs – dragging her along behind him. "Well, don't worry!" he said. "I have _plenty_ that you can borrow."

Raven groaned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile… 

Sayuri hurried into the hospital building, in such a rush that she almost forgot to wait for the sliding glass doors to slide open for her. When she stepped up to the front desk, she immediately noticed that the receptionist was the same old woman she'd spoken to last time she was here. In her surprise, she momentarily forgot about her excitement.

"What? Do you _live_ here or something?"

The woman looked up at Sayuri. Her pearl-ish blue eyes crinkled in amusement.

"Oh? I could ask the same of you, you know. And, no, I just happen to work a double shift."

Sayuri briefly wondered why the woman would have to work a double shift. What happened to all that retirement money old people got? Her questions were forgotten when she suddenly remembered the reason she was here.

"Ma'am, I need to give you a payment for the patient in room 613."

The lady nodded and typed in some keys on her computer. The information she was looking for was on the screen in a split second.

"Room 613. Takeshi Kenohe. Is it safe to assume you'll be paying for his chemo?"

Sayuri nodded as the woman shook her head sadly.

"It's a shame his health insurance couldn't cover this."

Sayuri sighed. "Takeshi was never very rich… when his parents kicked him out, he had nothing. When he started working, he made just enough money to scrape by… And he didn't have nearly enough to pay insurance… so, _this_ was a really big blow…"

The woman nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry I asked."

Sayuri shrugged. "Don't worry about it." 

She gave the receptionist the bag of money Slade had tossed her less then an hour ago. The lady quickly opened the bag, and counted the money. It only took her a minute or two. After all, this was part of the job she was paid to do.

"…. 50 grand? Dear, the operation only costs around 10,000."

"I know. The rest is to pay for more operations if the first doesn't work. And if it does, then just use the other 40k to… make sure he has the best treatment possible while he's here."

Sayuri knew very little about his cancer, or what they'd have to do to treat it, but she did know that money talks. And money was something she now had quite a bit of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the Titan Tower… 

Cyborg was sitting in the living room now, lazily flipping through the TV channels, and waiting for Raven and Beast Boy to come down from upstairs. _Geeze… they're sure taking their time up there… I guess they're still finding something for Raven…_

Cyborg glanced down at his own "disguise". He had on a loose, hooded jacket that completely concealed his robotic armor. His pants were white, and made of the same material as his jacket. In the outfit, he looked just like any other average-Joe.

Cyborg went back to channel surfing, eventually settling on a channel somewhere in the 30s. He watched whatever the cartoon was, getting remotely interested. However, the TV immediately went off when he saw Raven and Beast Boy walking down the stairs. He stared on in shock of what Raven was wearing.

Raven herself couldn't believe that she'd been talked into wearing the outfit. Her pants were black, loose, baggy, and had about a million pockets. Her T-Shirt was too large for her, or anyone else she knew, for that matter. It was plain black, and had the words "Not the brightest crayon in the box." written in a hard-to-see navy color, across the front.

"Not. A. Word." Raven warned, recognizing the look on Cyborg's face.

But it didn't do much good. Cyborg lasted about 12 seconds, before he burst out laughing. 

"How……. did….. you….. **EVER**…. get….. her….. to…. wear….. THAT?" he managed to ask between his loud laughing fits.

Beast Boy smiled. "I convinced her! I'm a _great_ debater." He winked at Raven. "It's one of the reasons all the ladies _adore_ me."

Raven rolled her eyes.

Beast Boy's smile widened. "That, and my good looks, of course."

Raven crossed her arms.

Beast Boy broke out into a grin. He seemed about to continue his "conversation", when a now somber, Cyborg interrupted him.

"Enough conceitedness for one day, BB. What d'ya say we buzz Robin now?"

Beast Boy nodded. "Sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Back in the hospital parking lot…_

Starfire was trying her best at conversing with Robin, when Sayuri finally got back to the car.

"You do not remember… anything?"

"I remember some things. Like my childhood. But it seems I've forgotten everything that happened between then and now…"

"Oh… so you do not recognize me, then?"

"No. Should I?"

Starfire sighed. _I love you, Robin. I am almost positive that is what this emotion is… Yet, it will never be returned if you do not even recall who I am…_

"We used to be friends. I am just a little surprised."

"…. I'm sorry. I don't remember."

Sayuri shook her head, and climbed in the car. She turned to look at Star. "I don't know how many times I can apologize in one day, but--…."

"Then do not do it!" Starfire interrupted her. "One apology is adequate. Any more is simply a waste of your time."

_If you insist… I still feel awful though… _Sayuri dropped her head and started up the car. Then she quickly pulled the keys back out, as she heard one of the titan's private radios beeping. She glanced at Starfire.

"Are you gonna get that?"

Starfire checked her radio, and then shook her head. "It is Robin's."

In the back seat, Robin fumbled around with a vibrating communication radio he'd discovered strapped to his belt. Somehow, he managed to find the talk button.

"…. H-hello?"

"Robin! Is that you?" Starfire recognized Cyborg's voice over the transmission.

"Yes, my name is Robin… who is this?"

"Dude… its Cyborg. What's up with you?"

"I don't know."

The radio was silent for a moment. Cyborg was clearly confused. 

"How's Starfire? Have you found her?"

"Starfire…? Who's that?"

More silence. Then Beast Boy's voice.

"_What?!?!_ What do you mean 'who's that?'?!?! You said you LOVED her, dude!!! You can't tell me that just when I find out about your feelings you _change them around again_!!!!"

Robin stared at the radio in confusion. _Whoever "Starfire" is, she must be important to me! Why can't I remember her…?_

Still sitting in the front seat, Starfire clearly heard Beast Boy's outburst. The words echoed around in her head. '_You said you LOVED her…. You LOVED her…'_

Starfire's face flushed a deep shade of red. Could it really be true? She glanced over at Sayuri, remembering the other girl's words. '_He cares for you, hon. Probably more then anyone else he knows. And it goes deeper then that._'

Starfire shook her head in disbelief. _Goodness… they cannot both be wrong, can they?_

**(A/N- Okay, I KNOW that THAT'S a cliffhanger. ^___^ Next chapter to be up soon. This chapter was originally going to be longer, but my inspiration keeps blowing around in my mind, and changing constantly… so… this'll give me some time to think the plot over, and still give you a new chappie to read.**

**^^ Er, yay for me?**

**I certainly hope that you all enjoyed reading this chapter! I got yelled at… a lot… for staying up so late finishing it. **

**Also, I'd like to take this chance to –again- thank you all VERY much for the wonderfully nice/helpful reviews!!! I'm really, _really_ happy about the amount of response this fic is getting! 141 reviews already! ^___^ We've almost hit 150!**

**Oh, yes, and I'd also like to respond to some of the reviews I've gotten… let's see…**

**Brie and Fooble Bloop: Er…. What? This is certainly not the last chapter of Boundless Love… I never meant to imply it would be! ^^;; I'm sorry! I guess I need to be more careful with my wording, huh?**

**Kokuryu: …Wow… I didn't know that! *_sticks her tongue out at someone sitting a few feet to her left_* My little sister, Mel, tells me that everything you said was true- that she saw it on some episode. Which makes me wonder one thing… _why had Mel neglected to tell me the information thus far?!_ Well… anyway, thank you so much for the help!!! I need as much as I can get and appreciate it tons! ^^**

**Eventidespirit: It sounds interesting, that it does! Please let me know if you ever decide to write it.**

**Zerin Empress: Yes, I know… I'm sorry… I was about to have the big fight scene right then and there…. But then I realized I know practically nothing about Slade's abilities or fighting style… so I decided to put off the fight… for the moment. Please forgive me!**

**Well, that's all for now. Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews!! I hope you'll PLEASE keep them coming.**

**;) Because, being the sad, sad person I am, I need things like reviews to cheer me up.**

**^^ So please! REVIEW!!!)**


	12. Chapter 11: Old Geezers

**{(Chapter 11: Old Geezers)}**

Sayuri sighed.

"May I please have the radio?" she asked Robin.

He nodded. "Uh… sure."

Sayuri reached back, and took the radio from Robin. She clicked the talk button.

"Who is it I'm talking to?"

Silence for a few moments.

"Who's asking?"

"Nice move. Defensive. My name's Sayuri."

Another pause. Now the voice sounded angry.

"And what d'you want?"

Sayuri thought a moment, her mind reeling from the weeks of research information she'd had to do on these Titans… _What I need to do is talk to someone who'll keep a cool head and believe me… Robin and Starfire are here. That leaves Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven. Cyborg was that loud, simple-ish one… he won't listen to me… Beast Boy was the joker guy… no…_

"What I want is to speak to Raven."

Back at the Titan Tower… 

Beast Boy and Cyborg were hunched over the table - where Cyborg's com radio was laying. Cyborg was currently the one doing the talking, but Beast Boy was listening intensely. Raven was sitting –indifferently- on the couch.

The radio's settings had been set to auto, so that any voice in the room was picked up by the radio, and sent over the transmission.

"Who is it I'm talking to?"

Beast Boy's ears perked upon hearing the familiar female voice. It was the same he'd heard when Slade had contacted Robin.

"The enemy!" Beast Boy silently mouthed to Cyborg.

Cyborg nodded.

"Who's asking?"

"Nice move. Defensive. My name's Sayuri."

Cyborg looked at Beast Boy for confirmation. The boy nodded his head vigorously. _That's definitely the same girl… same voice, and her name's Sayu--… whatever. Wait! If the enemy has Robin, he's in trouble!!!_

It seemed Cyborg might have been thinking along the same thought line. He voice was unnaturally cold.

"And what d'you want?"

"…………… What I want is to speak to Raven."

Raven's suddenly sat up strait from her slumped over position. "Excuse me?"

"Is that her?"

Beast Boy looked wearily at Raven. "Why do you need to talk to _her_?"

"Because she's the most sensible person in your group, I think."

Beast Boy wrinkled his nose. "You mean you want to make _her_ your next hostage." 

"No. And why's she stopped talking?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Because Beast Boy wanted to say something, and it's rude to interrupt."

There was a pause on the other end. Beast Boy thought he heard laughter.

"My apologies. Beast Boy, are you through?"

Beast Boy remained silent.

"I suppose that's a yes. Now, Raven, would you please listen to me? I have a feeling that neither Cyborg nor Beast Boy will trust me at all…"

Raven briefly rolled her eyes. "What kind of logic is that? There's not much chance I'll believe you either. I have very good reason to believe you're the girl we should be _fighting_ right now."

Beast Boy, who'd been pointing to the radio and mouthing things like 'evil' and 'DANGER', grinned. _Yes! She read my lips!_

"That's a very good point. But if you want to help Robin at all, you'll have to at least listen…"

Raven said nothing. She looked over at Cyborg and Beast Boy. Beast Boy let out a resigned sigh, and Cyborg gave her a hesitant nod.

"Alright then."

"Okay. Long story short, Robin sacrificed himself for Starfire's safety, and has lost his memory in the process. He's safe, though, and we're currently traveling to see a guy who can restore his memory… But, even when the guy gets everything fixed up… Robin's still going to need some things from his past to help him remember everything again. I'm afraid that seeing just Starfire won't be enough. So, I need all of you to meet up with us somehow… and bring some old photos with you, if you can. The more old memories the better."

Raven groaned. "_Memory loss_? You gave him a concussion?" 

"Not exactly…"

"Then what? You have mind controlling powers too?"

"No…"

Cyborg sighed. "Whateva. We'll trust you, for now. But when we see you… if Robin and Starfire aren't both unharmed, you'll be paying for it."

"Right."

"Also… where do you want us to meet you?"

"……… Well…. You can meet us outside the hospital. I need to stop by there again, anyway… I'll see you then."

The line went dead. Only static crackled from the radio's speakers. Beast Boy quickly reached over and shut off the irritating noise.

"Well…" Raven said, standing up. "Shall we go, then?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy both nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Less then an hour later… 

Two shadowed figures walked down the path from the Titan Tower. One was rather tall and bulky. The other was smaller, with a thin frame hidden in very baggy clothes.

As the sun peeked out from behind a mass of clouds, the two figures were illuminated and shown much more clearly. The first was a black man with a huge black afro. His clothing was a baggy, white jacket, with matching pants and jogger shoes. The second figure was a young, pale girl with long, dark brown hair, and a curious red gem on her forehead. She was wearing extremely large black pants, with an equally big, dark shirt, and black skater shoes. A green parrot rested happily on her shoulder.

As the two people walked down the sidewalk…

"I _love_ the hair, Rae. Why don't you wear wigs more often?"

Raven glanced at Cyborg's large afro. "You're one to talk. This isn't the 70s."

"Hey! Afros will never go out of style! I'd grow my own, if I could."

Raven rolled her eyes, but said nothing. The parrot on her shoulder seemed to snicker.

And so, the three of them continued on for a few minutes, in silence. Each was rather unnerved about the fact that Slade could be watching them. But, Cyborg did eventually break their uncomfortable silence.

"See that?" He pointed a ways in front of them, where a shadowed form was coming down the sidewalk. "Those are people coming… Be careful. They could be Slade's spies…"

Raven and the parrot both nodded. Cyborg winced.

"And, BB… try to act more bird-like!"

The parrot blinked, but didn't nod again.

"Good."

By this time, the people Cyborg had spotted walking up the sidewalk had reached the three titans. There were only two of them. A man and a woman; both elderly. They were wearing old Georgian clothing, which looked a little out of place in the middle of the city.

"'ello, there." The old man said, looking at Cyborg and Raven. His voice sounded quiet and kind. "Fine day we're having, eh?"

Raven thought over the events of the past two days. Her friends had been trapped, kidnapped and endangered. And all by a villain that wasn't giving them the chance to fight back. _Oh, yeah… really good day…_ Grimly, she gave the man a nod.

The old woman looked back and forth between Cyborg and Raven, then smiled at the old man. Her voice was surprisingly loud compared to his. "Oh, Seiku, aren't these two a cute couple?! They look just like we did when we were young'uns!"

Raven cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Sitting on her shoulder, parrot-Beast Boy bristled.

Cyborg chuckled. Not wanting to waste any more time explaining things to the woman, he said, "Thank you, ma'am."

"Not really, Asuka…" the old man- Seiku smiled. "We didn't wear outrageous clothing like that."

"That's true." The woman, Asuka, said thoughtfully. The two had stopped walking a while ago. Raven and Cyborg had stopped as well, so as not to be rude.

Seiku glanced at an old wristwatch on his arm. "We'd better start going, Asuka… we'll be late if we don't."

Asuka nodded. "I suppose so. Would you two lovebirds do a quick kiss before we go? You _are_ such a cute couple…"

Cyborg's face went beet red.

Parrot-form Beast Boy let out a squawk of dismay.

"My apologies." Raven said, her voice a cold monotone. "But we're on a time schedule as well, and we do not have _time_ to go around entertaining elders who get kicks from watching kids make-out."

With that, she walked past the old couple and continued down the walkway. Wide-eyed, Cyborg followed quickly behind her. 

"….you just _disrespected_ an old woman…" he muttered. "Man, oh, man… isn't that supposed to be bad luck or something?"

"Spilling salt, crossing a black cat's path, walking under a ladder – those bring "bad luck"." Raven pointed out. "Putting a rude old geezer in her place… no."

Cyborg shook his head. "Whatever…"

The green parrot on Raven's shoulder seemed content that the telepath had refused to kiss Cyborg. He kept the same happy look as they continued walking. It only left him when they finally arrived at the city hospital. ****

**(A/N- Yes, this chapter is short. Yes, it's rather boring and kinda sucks. But… I've been getting ready for a trip to GA this Wendsday… so I've been kinda busy, and not had time to find inspiration for this plot. Anyway, I'll be out of town Wendsday through Friday… so I'm sorry, but I won't be able to update. I'll make you a deal, though. While I'm away, I'll take my notebook and write the next chapter (or two), and update again as soon as I get back. Deal?**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, even though it's a little… dull. Also… thank you very much for the reviews, everyone! We've hit 150!!! Yay!! Actually, I'm REALLY close to hitting 175, now!! ^___^ YAY!! I can't believe how popular this story's gotten! Thank you so much everyone! Oh… and I have some responses to some reviews y'all sent in…**

**A.N.D.: You'll just have to wait and see how long it'll take Slade to figure it all out. ;) When he does, however, I can guarantee our heroes are in for some trouble. Also, no; Cy does not have the T-Car. I started writing this fic before the episode "Car Trouble" came out, therefore intended it to be before that time period. . Besides, I despise that episode. Raven&Cyborg?? *shudder* NOT my preference.**

**…: Well, alrighty… I do agree with you. Of course he's not stupid. But you really must take into account the fact that Sayuri IS "working for him". He trusts her based on what she's demonstrated thus far. He doesn't really completely trust her, though… But please don't make me give away my plot trying to explain myself. I've already done that once in this fic. @_@;;**

**Weirdo High Coffee Girl: *sigh* You're right. I really should have gone more in-depth with my description. And I did make a small typing mistake in it too. Anyway… please let me try and explain what I meant… In the Bible, the second coming of Christ (which is precluded by the many, many strange events and "tribulations") signals the end of the world (as you said). What I was trying to explain was, that's where the saying comes from. **

**All Flamers and Complainers: I don't want to seem like I'm making excuses, but… you really MUST keep in mind that -just like everyone else on this site- I AM ONLY HUMAN. And I'm not a very talented human at that. In addition to this, everything I post on ff.net is more or less my first draft. I run a spell check over my work, but I usually don't have the time to go back and check everything I've written, in addition to the time it takes to write it all in the first place (high school sucks). I know my works a bit of a disappointment, but I hope you'll try and tolerate it. Even though I'm trying desperately to improve, and learn from the advice and complaints you guys give me… this really is just about the best I can do, so I hope you'll forgive me if it's still not up to standards.**

**Anyway, thank you all again for reviewing! I appreciate it greatly! Please, please continue reviewing!!**

**^^; Even if you don't like this story… I'll be greatly obliged if you'd review anyway. Maybe you can tell me what all I'm doing wrong?**

**So, please! Review!)**


	13. Chapter 12: Revalations

**(A/N- Starting notes: @.@;; I'm _sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo _sorry I wasn't back on Friday… My mom decided to make my siblings and I stay with her in Georgia till the END OF MY THANKSGIVING BREAK. *grumbles* I didn't get any vacation time at home… But, anyway, my misfortune shouldn't have to trouble you all. Again, I'm VERY sorry for the delay. I, um, hope this new update will maybe help you all forgive me… a little?)**

**{(Chapter 12- Revalations)}**

A silence passed between the car's three occupants as Sayuri turned off the radio, and handed it back to Robin. It lasted for quite a few minutes, as Sayuri continued cruising towards the high-tech company they were heading to. After a while, though, the quiet atmosphere became too much for Starfire.

"Would you like to talk? This silence is… uncomfortable."

"No, not really…"

"You sound like Raven." Starfire observed.

Sayuri smiled. "I'm sorry. I'm normally annoyingly talkative… but I've just been a little depressed lately…"

"Would you like to talk about that? I might be able to make you feel better."

Sayuri sighed. "No… thanks, though."

"Then… maybe I could tell you about myself?"

Sayuri thought back to the months of studying she'd done on the Teen Titans, trying to prepare for this mission. A pang of guilt briefly went through her, but she shook it off, telling herself that Takeshi would live because of what she did.

"No. There's not much you could tell me I don't already know."

"Oh…" Starfire's smile faded for a moment, then brightened again. "Then, perhaps _you_ could tell me about yourself? You don't have to tell me why you're so… sad, if you don't want to…" She briefly thought over what would be a safe topic. "…Why don't you tell me about your energy blasting techniques?"

Sayuri couldn't help but smile at the Tamaranian's strange choice of words. "My powers, you mean?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then…… Well, for starters, my power is based on something called spirit energy. Every human has two energies running through them… their life energy, and their spirit's energy. Spirit warriors _can_ use their life energy _and_ their spirit energy, to make themselves stronger… but they'd die in the process, so most don't."

In the back seat of the convertible, Robin was absorbing all the information being said in front of him. "But _how_ do you use your spirit energy … And why can't everyone else use it?"

Sayuri gave him a nod. "Good observation. If everyone has spirit energy, why can't everyone use it? It takes a lot of training and strict discipline to learn to channel your energy. Some people have it lucky, and are born with a high spirit awareness- so they don't need very much training. Me, though… I had to go under training with my great-aunt; Genkai and my mother for 8 years, before I could even use the spirit gun. In fact… she gave up on me after the first 5 years, and went out on a search for a better apprentice to her powers. I hear she found one… but I've never met the guy…" 

"….You still haven't said how you use your "spirit energy"…"

"Oh, you're right. What you do is channel your spirit's energy into a certain part of your body. If you want a small, precise point, then you channel it all into your finger, for a spirit gun blast. If you want a more wide, spread out shot, then you can use something like the shot gun, or the spirit wave (my great-aunt's own invention), you can send the energy through your entire hand, or fist. You can also channel your energy, sparsely, throughout your entire body to do things like teleportation, speeding up or flying."

Starfire gasped. "You can do all that?"

Sayuri laughed. "I wish! My mom could, though, and probably would have taught me to… but… my training had to end a bit earlier then she'd planned. So, as a result, I can only use two of the techniques… the spirit gun and teleportation."

"Oh…"

"But… even though I'm probably no match at all for whoever Genkai's apprentice was… I'm still pretty powerful." Sayuri paused as they reached a stoplight. She turned to look at Starfire, and put up three fingers. A small orange spirit bullet appeared on each of the fingers' tips. "Those little spheres there… that's all the power I have inside me as of now. It'll replenish itself tomorrow, but for now it's all I have. I _do_ have the choice of how I use each of them… either a bullet, or teleportation. It takes the same amount of energy for me to do each… But I _am_ limited to those three. After that, the only choice I have is to use my life energy, and kill myself."

Starfire fell silent. As far as she could tell, Sayuri's powers were dangerous and unreliable. She almost wondered why Sayuri used them at all.

Robin's mind seemed to have drifted away from the subject at hand. His next question was blurted out rather unexpectedly.

"Hey… who's Starfire?"

Sayuri and Starfire both looked back at him, confused. "What?"

"That guy on the radio… he said that I loved Starfire… But, who _is_ she? Her name sounds like it was of great importance to me… but… I just can't remember who she is."

Starfire faltered for an answer. Sayuri interrupted before she could come up with one.

"You'd have a lot of trouble accepting any answer we give you to that question, so best not to answer it just yet… As soon as we straighten your brainwaves back out, though, we'll tell you anything you want."

Robin nodded, satisfied for the time being.

Only a few minutes later, Sayuri pulled into the parking lot for a large company called "Compu-Tech". She stepped out of her convertible, locking the door behind her.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." She told Starfire and Robin. "You two wait here while I see if my fiancé's friend is still at work. If he is, I'll be back to get you."

With that, she quickly walked in through the building's front doors.

An uncomfortable silence once again passed over the car's occupants. Starfire sighed drearily; something very uncharacteristic of her. _It didn't used to be like this strange between us… I miss just being able to talk to him… But… I will get him back soon…_

She looked back at Robin, and nodded to herself. "…That I will promise."

"Huh?"

"Was that outloud?!"

_23 minutes later…_

Sayuri stalked out of the Compu-Tech building, frowning. She climbed back into her car, slamming the door shut behind her. She started up the engine, and drove out of the parking lot.

"…Was your computer friend not there?"

Sayuri sighed and looked at Starfire. "They said his wife came by the office about an hour ago. She wasn't feeling too well, so he left with her so she'd get some fresh air… So… I really have no clue were he is. But we can go pick up your friends, and wait for him at his apartment… if we're lucky, he'll go back there… so he can work online or something…"

The car fell into silence again, but this time Starfire made no effort to get a conversation going. For the moment, she was silently enjoying the feel of the wind on her face, and trying to forget about her current troubles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg all waited patiently outside the front of the city hospital. Raven was sitting quietly on one of the many plastic, blue benches. Cyborg and –now back in human form- Beast Boy were both playing around on the parking lot's only entertainment; a coin-operated horse ride. They were just starting to run out of quarters, when Raven spotted a golden yellow convertible pull into the hospital entrance.

"Look," she said. Both boys immediately turned to what she'd been looking at. They grinned when the convertible pulled up next to them, and they saw Starfire and Robin both seated inside.

"Robin! _Starfire!_ You're safe!"

Robin's head snapped up from where he'd been staring at the car's carpet. "What? Starfire? Where is she?"

He looked around from Raven, to Sayuri, to Starfire, wondering which of them "Starfire" could be. Raven frowned and shook her head. "You really did take his memory."

Sayuri nodded and sighed. "Well, get in. I haven't found the guy who can fix it, yet. But I think I know where he might be…"

Starfire climbed into the backseat, to make more room for her friends. Cyborg decided to sit up front in the passenger's seat, since he was the largest of the group, and would probably squish the rest if he squeezed into the back. Raven and Beast Boy both hopped into the back seat… but it was only built for three. Since there were four of them, Raven was "forced" to sit on Beast Boy's lap during the ride.

"Ready?" Sayuri asked them.

After a moment's struggle, while Raven buckled the seat belt over herself and Beast Boy, she nodded. Sayuri revved the engine, but before she took off, she seemed to realize something. She sped out of the car, leaving the keys in.

"I'll be right back!" She called behind her, as she hurried inside the hospital building.

The Titans glanced at each other, a little confused. It didn't last long, when Sayuri rushed back out of the building under a minute later. She was smiling happily as she climbed back into her car, and pulled out of the hospital.

"Er… what's got you so happy?" Cyborg asked, curious.

"They say they're sending him into surgery as we speak." Sayuri said cheerily.

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry… I guess I should keep my mind on the task at hand… we've got to get to Seiku's place…" She said this as she sped through a red light.

"Seiku?" Something clicked in the back of Beast Boy's mind. "Seiku…. Wasn't that the name of that "old geezer" Raven snubbed on our way to the hospital?"

Raven nodded, as she took off the brown wig she'd been wearing. Her eyes widened as the realization dawned on her. "Oh, no…"

Sayuri's face fell. "You did _what_?"

Cyborg groaned. "Oh, man… I _knew_ disrespecting an elder was bad luck…"

Beast Boy nodded. "Dude, this is pretty bad… I guess you were right."

Sayuri sighed. "Just pray Seiku doesn't recognize you guys without your disguises. Or if we're really lucky, he won't even remember you "snubbed" him earlier."

"Not him," corrected Beast Boy. "His wife."

Sayuri groaned. "Great."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Back in Slade's Lair…_

Slade tapped his fingers on his chair's armrest in annoyance. His eyes were all but glued to his giant plasma screen, which now showed a live shot from a spy cam he'd planted in Sayuri's car. It showed his little "employee", and all five of the Teen Titans, talking together in her car.

A little frustrated, Slade swiveled his chair away from the screen. _So… you're nothing but a traitor after all, Sayuri… How annoying…_ Still, he couldn't help it when a wicked smile crept up his face. It felt so good to be working alone again.

He stood up from his chair, and began to form a comeback plan. "I'll make you pay for your backstabbing, Sayuri… and when I'm done, I'll kill off all four of those Titans… there's more then one way to skin a cat, and I _will_ make Robin my apprentice. There's nothing anyone can do to stop that."

(A/N- *Laughs evily* Oh, yeah!!! Slade's back in the game! ^___^ What fun it is to have villains. It almost makes me want to make Sayuri turn evil. And Robin! And Starfire! And… Er… guess I should stop rambling. The thing is, though, if I made Robin (or anyone else) go evil, I'd be accused by about a million TT fans that I made their favorite character OC. @.@

**Well, maybe not a million… My story isn't quite that popular. ^^;;;**

**Oh… know what, though?! I got 175 reveiws! 178 at last count!! That's wicked awesome, desu ne?! We've almost hit 200!!!!! ^____^ Eeep! Total yayness. Oh, yeah… review responses and stuff…**

**Gothic-Wolf: Yes. Much more fluff, I hope. I'm glad to like it. I'm a hopeless BB/Ra fan.**

**Well-Well: Thank you very much for the advice and compliment. It's greatly appreciated. Maybe this isn't a very good reason, but I was hoping to put in more info on the "old geezers" later, since they'll be fairly main characters in my plotline.**

**Weirdo Coffee High Girl: oo;; I messed up your name?! Gomen nasi!!! I guess I was just a little tired… and, yes, I've been getting more and more flames and complaints as of late… it's a little depressing, but I'll live. After all, I still have very, very many reviewers who're actually enjoying my story… so… I'll be keeping my spirit's up.**

**BTW, You guys should know that this story's getting more reviews then _any_ of my other stories ever did… so, every review you post is breaking a new record for me!**

**^^ Is that a good enough reason to review? Well… I really do greatly appreciate it when people review my stories. Seeing an e-mail titled "[FanFiction.net] Review Alert!" never fails to make my day.**

**So… please, please keep reviewing. And domo arigatou for the comments you've posted thus far! I'm really glad you like (or strongly dislike) my story enough to review it.**

**LOL. I think I must put the word "review" at least a dozen times in every author note I've ever written. Still… it's a rather hard habit to break…**

**_Please_**** Review!!)**


	14. Chapter 13: Seiku

**{(Chapter 13- Seiku)}**

The Teen Titans and Sayuri continued driving down the road for quite a while. Most of the Titans were all happily chatting away, and informing each other of the latest news. Robin was leaning out the side of the convertible, confused since he couldn't follow a sentence of the conversation. _Too many foreign names._

"Robin?"

Robin was surprised to hear Sayuri's voice. He'd noticed that the girl didn't address him very often. No one else really did, either. Maybe they considered him an invalid… since he couldn't remember things.

"Yeah?"

Sayuri glanced back at Robin through her rear view mirror, careful to keep an eye on the road.

"Robin, I was wondering… do you remember how to use the things on your utility belt?"

"Yes. I remember how to fight."

"That's good. I have a gift for you. Think of it as an apology… for having to force all these problems on you guys."

_Is she just talking about my memory loss? _"….Okay."

The rest of the titans were still talking loudly. Sayuri found the background noise annoying, but was thankful for their preoccupation. It was, after all, a private conversation. She reached into her shorts' back pocket, and pulled out a small orange marble-like ball. She reached back and handed it to Robin.

"That… is an energy trap."

"Energy trap?" It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place the name.

"Yes. My trick… the energy trap… is actually quite simple. It's not even a spirit wave technique…"

"So, anyone can use it?"

"Well, you'd have to have some experience with gadgets to use it _correctly_, but yes… everyone can use it."

"…How do I use it?"

"All you need to do is squeeze the little ball, then _quickly_ throw it, at whomever you want trapped."

Robin stared at the tiny marble in wonder. "How's that work?"

"Well… it's an energy leeching device – my mom's own invention. When you squeeze the marble, it activates thousands of tiny sensors hidden inside it, which then focus their electromagnetic energy out to collect a tiny bit of your spirit energy. That tiny bit of energy is enough to make the marble expand. The material it's made out of is special, and when it's expanded, it turns into a trap – sucking in everything around it."

That sounded familiar, like it had happened to him before. But, again, Robin couldn't quite remember. "…. Oh."

Sayuri smiled. "Just remember not to use it unless it's really important, alright? My mom only left me with 5 of those things, and that's my last one. Emergencies only, 'kay?"

Robin, who was just packing the ball away in a spare pocket of his utility belt, paused. "Does that make this a family heirloom? I couldn't take it if…"

Sayuri shook her head. "Not an heirloom. A weapon. Use it when you've run out of options. My mom would be honored if her invention saved the life of a super hero. And I'll be highly offended if you don't use it."

Of course, Sayuri probably wouldn't be all that offended, and was just trying to reassure Robin. But it was exactly what he needed to hear. He tucked the orange little marble away into his belt. "Thank you, then."

"You're wel—"

Sayuri cut herself off as she made a sharp turn into the apartment complex' entrance.

"We're here." She said, making all the chatting Titans fall silent.

"That old guy lives here?" Cyborg asked, remembering the shocked look on that woman's face when Raven told her off.

"Yes."

"Then I'm not going in."

Sayuri grinned, getting out of the car. "Oh, no… you can't get off that easy… _Everyone_'s coming in."

"Why do you need _me_? I don't want to see those old people again… they're gonna be ticked off."

"What if we're attacked? You'll miss out on all the action if you stay."

Cyborg grumbled. "Eh… fine."

The Titans climbed out of Sayuri's convertible, and she pulled the top up before locking it. Then… the six of them walked into the apartment building. Sayuri stepped up to the front desk.

"Hello. I'm here to see Seiku Arai. You don't know what his apartment number is… do you?"

The man behind the counter looked in his information log, and nodded. "Seiku Arai – Room 314. Should I buzz him, and let him know you're coming?"

"Please do. Tell him it's Sayuri, and I've brought some friends."

"Fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Up in room 314…_

Seiku Arai had just finished convincing his wife to get some rest in their bedroom. He quietly shut the door behind him, and walked into the kitchen. His papers were strung out on the kitchen table, where he planned to finish his research work at home. He was about to sit down and do just that, when his telephone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello. This is the Front Desk. You have a visitor coming up to see you. She says her name's Sayuri, and she's bringing friends."

"Mrs.Kenohe is coming up? Okay. Thank you."

"Hey, that's what I'm getting paid for."

Seiku hung up the phone, and quickly went through the house, straitening up the "house" for his guests. _I love having the front desk up there… If they didn't warn me every time someone came to visit, then everyone would know what a slob I am around the house._

He chuckled, imagining what some of his colleges would say if they found out their respected professor didn't even clean up after himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_A few minutes later…_

Sayuri and the rest were standing right outside room 314. Sayuri stepped up to the door and knocked.

Once.

Twice.

She paused, and then knocked three more times. Twice was to signify importance, and three was for secrecy. The code knocking system was Seiku Arai's own invention. Takeshi had liked it. Sayuri liked it too. It was dead useful.

Inside the apartment, it sounded like Seiku was rummaging through his belongings. He abruptly stopped when Sayuri finished knocking, and hurried over to open the door. When he did, Sayuri couldn't help but smile. Seiku looked the same as she'd always seen him. He wore a white and brown plaid shirt, tucked tightly into his over-starched brown slacks. His colorless, white hair was combed neatly down the middle.

However, Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg's reaction to the man was just about the opposite of Sayuri's. This was definitely the same man they'd seen before. Now it was confirmed. They desperately hoped he wouldn't remember them.

"Mrs. Kenohe! It's splendid to see you again. Please come in."

Sayuri nodded, very glad that he was being so nonchalant. She stepped inside, motioning for the Titans to follow her. They did.

"You know…" Sayuri said. "My name isn't Kenohe _yet_. It's still Iotanke."

"But you are engaged, no?" He voice was its usual kind, quiet whisper, as he shut the door behind his guests. "In my day, engagement was just as good as marriage…" he locked the door, then turned back to look at Sayuri. "What is the important issue you came here for?"

Sayuri chuckled. "You're very careful, you know… I suppose you were making sure no one could hear or walk in on us?"

"Yes. These walls are pretty soundproof. And I'm protective of secrets. Especially ones that aren't mine."

Sayuri gave a small bow. "It's appreciated."

Seiku shrugged. "So, what do you need to tell me?"

Sayuri straitened, frowning. "I don't know how to tell you this and not get you mad at me."

Seiku's cheerful eyes dulled ever so slightly. "What is it?"

"She erased Robin's memory using your small computer chip." Starfire said. Sayuri gave her a brief frown.

"You did _what_?!"

Sayuri winced, displeased at making the man upset. "I know you told me not to try it on anyone, but it was very important……"

Seiku shook his head, sighing. "That device is _dangerous_! What could have been so important?"

"It helped me save Takeshi."

Seiku hesitated. "Well… I guess your reason is good enough… for now. But when Mr. Kenohe returns from the hospital, you, him and I are going to sit down and have a long talk about why you should listen to old Mr. Arai's advice."

Sayuri nodded, a little amused at the suggestion.

"What do you need my help with?"

Sayuri sighed, realizing how stupid she was going to sound. "I… need your help in fixing the guy's memory back…"

"… you risked using my chip… and now you want me to undo what you did?"

"Yes…"

"I'm not sure if I _can_, Mrs. Kenohe… It was difficult building the chip in the first place… It would be much harder to build one that's the exact opposite…"

Starfire gasped. _He cannot do it?!_ She stepped up to face Seiku, eye to eye, then suddenly dropped to her knees, clasping her hands together in a classic begging position. "Oh, please, sir!"

Everyone looked at her a little strangely.

"Yo, Star… what are you doing?"

"I am… pleading for his help. This is how it is done… is it not? It's how they did it on the show of the Tom and the Jerry…"

The Titans stared on in horror. If she wanted to gain this man's sympathy, telling him she imitated a cartoon show was not going to cut the cake. Sayuri seemed to be thinking along the same lines, and paled considerably. Everyone was surprised when Seiku burst out into laughter.

"M… Mr. Arai?"

Seiku now threw his head back and laughed openly.

"Mr. Arai! I've never seen you so… loud before!"

Seiku didn't seem to hear Sayuri. Tears of laughter rolled down his weathered cheeks.

The Titans and Sayuri now just stood and stared, rather confused. Eventually, Seiku calmed down from his laughing fit. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and looked down at Starfire, who was still on her knees.

"Thank you, young girl. Your… innocence brings me much joy and amusement in my old age. It seems to me that these days, all you young ones like to act smart-alecky, and better then the rest… it's very good to meet someone who acts just the opposite."

Starfire beamed.

Seiku turned back to Sayuri. "So… which one of these kids' minds have you ruined?"

Sayuri frowned and pointed at Robin.

Seiku smiled. "Oh? It's a boy?" He glanced at Starfire, his eyes twinkling. "I think I see why this girl is so anxious to get him back."

Beast Boy shook his head a little, and then turned to whisper to Raven. "What's he mean by that?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "I love you, but you're so ignorant sometimes…. He meant he could tell Starfire's in love with Robin."

Beast Boy's mouth dropped open. "No _way_!! We _just_ met him!! Is it _really_ that obvious to everyone but me?!"

Raven and Cyborg both nodded. Beast Boy face-faulted, but said nothing more.

"Well…" Seiku said, his voice suddenly restored to its kind, happy tone. "It looks as if you'll all have to stay with me for the night."

Starfire faltered. "I-It will take that long?"

"At least. I'm not sure how long it will take. But don't worry! You'll enjoy staying with me. There are some extra pillows and blankets in the closet. Sayuri, would you bring them down? You can sleep wherever you like, but I'd appreciate it if you would stay out of mine and Azuka's room. She's still… a little drunk, and feeling none too loving towards you three." He pointed at Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy. They paled. _Old people have AMAZING memories!_

Sayuri gave him one last grateful bow, then slipped around the hall corner, and into the closet. When she came back out, she had five pillows and blankets stacked up in her arms. She handed a blanket and pillow to each of the Titans.

"Aren't you going to take one for yourself?" Seiku asked.

"No… this is all my fault. I'll stay up and keep you company while you work tonight. Maybe I can even help out some."

Seiku smiled. "That'd be appreciated. Thank you."

Sayuri dropped into another bow. "I should be thanking you… for cleaning up after my mess of things…" She straitened, putting on a cheerful smile. "I'll go fix some coffee for the two of us, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Black, please."

"Okay." She left for the kitchen. Having visited this man's apartment twice before with Takeshi, she was fairly familiar with the home's layout.

Seiku shrugged when he saw the five Titans standing still, pillows and blankets in hand. "You can go ahead and find a place to sleep. Like I said, I don't care where."

They nodded, and spread out into the small living quarters. Eventually, Cyborg laid out his things on the dinning room's shaggy carpet. Beast Boy and Raven decided to settle down on the living room couch. Starfire was just choosing a spot in the middle of the hallway, when Robin came out from the bathroom. He seemed a little uncomfortable.

"Excuse me… do you mind if I stay with you here? This is the only place left with a good amount of room, save for the bathroom… and I've already determined that that isn't an option."

Starfire smiled and nodded. "I do not mind. Go ahead." 

**(A/N- Yeah… this wasn't really a cliffhanger at all… ^^ That's not very typical of me. But, I'm sure you guys don't miss the cliffys.**

**So… why'd I cut it off there? I'm having a small bought of writer's block over how I'm going to word the upcoming scene… and I figured that you guys were being way to patient with me already, and deserved an update. So… here's your chapter.**

**What do you think? Please let me know? PLEASE. I know every time I beg for reviews, you're all like "Ugh… can she be any more desperate?"… But, now I have a whole new reason for begging. I recently starting paying for the ff.net support services, and can see the hit numbers for my stories. Sad thing is… since last night; Boundless Love has gotten 154 new hits. How many new reviews? 3. It's strange to know so many people click on my story, yet don't read and/or review it… Ignorance is indeed bliss.**

**But… WHO CARES, ANYWAY?! I got 200 reveiws!!! YIPPE!!! *hands out candy to all her reveiwers* I love you guys! Please keep sticking with me! _Maybe_ one day I'll buy you all nice shiny new cars for your amazing support. So - cherry red or pearl white? You pick the color.**

**Oh… review responses, I guess-**

**Trudi Frost: ^^; I very much appreciate the review support. Thank you very much.**

**Toast: ROFL! Thank you very much for the info! It's very nice of you to post it up on my review board. I must tell you, though… I already know very much about Tara Strong. I had to look her up when I was putting together my shrine for Rikku of FFX (Tara does Rikku's voice). Off the top of my head, I can tell you she also does the voice of Hello Kitty and Ariel. You're very right. She has a lot of talent.**

**Weirdo coffee high girl: oo; I'm sorry! The Japanese word thing has become a habit for me. I had to learn to type in words like "hai" and "gomen" and "arigatou", because it's expected when you write fics for shows like Rurouni Kenshin (which I mostly do). But, if it really bugs you, I'll try my best to edit out all the Japanese phrases when I'm typing for this fic. After all, it probably makes a lot more peoples' heads' spin as well.**

**That's all for now, people. Please, please, please keep reviewing.**

**^^ It's not very hard, you know. I'm not sure _why_ I have to continually beg at the end of all my chapters, for reviews. But… it seems to work.**

**So, please – Review!)**


	15. Chapter 14: Bad News

**{(Chapter 14- Bad News)}**

Seiku sighed. _I have a long night ahead of me…_ He set himself down at his kitchen table, and pulled out one of the un-programmed, default microchips he'd been working with earlier. He set it down on the table, and began shuffling through his papers to find the blueprints of his first microchip.

He smiled when he saw Sayuri walk out of his kitchen with two steaming mugs of coffee in hand. She sat down next to Seiku and handed him his sugar-less one.

"Thank you." Seiku raised an eyebrow when he saw the nearly white coffee Sayuri had made for herself. "… You think you have enough cream?"

Sayuri looked confused for a minute, but then followed his gaze to her coffee cup. "Oh, that. I don't really like coffee. I have to have a lot of cream and sugar to tolerate it. I hope you don't mind me using so much."

Seiku numbly shook his head. "If you don't like coffee, why are you drinking it?"

Sayuri shrugged. "I need a lot of caffeine if I'm gonna pull an all-nighter."

Seiku nodded, then turned back to his papers. "So… before I can program this chip… it seems you owe me a story, Mrs. Kenohe."

Sayuri sighed. "Guess so." 

So she told him exactly what she'd been doing since Takeshi was hospitalized, to the point where she was standing outside Seiku's door.

Seiku was silent for a moment, as he absorbed all the information. "Well… what we need to do is program a chip that's exactly the opposite of the one before, so it can undo what the first chip did, and restore Robin's memory."

"That shouldn't be too hard!"

"You're right, that part isn't… but first, we have to find what went wrong with the first chip. It _was_ programmed to delete the person's morals…. So, unless we want to risk killing him, or shorting out his brain altogether, we need to find out what went wrong the first time, and fix that."

Sayuri nodded. "I think I understand…" She pointed at a set of blueprints across the table. "Those are the prototype's blueprints, right?"

"Yes… so that's where they were!"

"Okay." She reached across the table and took a few pages of the blueprints. 

Thus, the search began. 

_Meanwhile…_

Starfire lay awake in her little corner of the hallway, surprised to find that she couldn't get a wink of sleep. It wasn't because she was sleeping on the floor – 'cause she couldn't count how many times she'd done that before! And though it was a little chilly, the cold wasn't the problem either. Really, if anything could be blamed for her alertness, it would have to be her anxiety over Robin.

She glanced over at him, lying against the wall a few feet away. He was fast asleep. _I think he is drooling…_

Starfire smiled, and stood up from her makeshift bed. She walked over to Robin, and sat down beside his head. _Yes, that's most certainly drool……… He looks… adorable, when he's sleeping._ Some little voice in the back of Starfire's head was telling her she should go back and get some sleep, but she was ignoring it for the time being – too caught up in the chance to just… _look_ at Robin.

Almost impulsively, she began to run her fingers through his short, silky hair. _He is such a handsome earthling… I wish I knew what his face looks like… _She had a sudden urge to peer under his mask, and see Robin's true face. But she pushed back the urge, telling herself that Robin may have a _reason_ –other then the obvious- for keeping his face hidden… _I should respect his privacy…_

Starfire sighed. "I suppose it does not matter what you look like anyway, Robin… though you're certainly very handsome… But… I think I have fallen in love with what's on the inside of you, more then the outside…" She paused, realizing that she'd finally admitted to _love_. "Is that really what this is, then? Love?" She leaned back against the wall, still gazing at Robin. 

"Every second you are with me, Robin… each one is an eternity I want to bottle up and treasure for the rest of my life. You make me feel… I do not know how to describe this… You can make me feel as though we two are the only ones in the world… Sometimes you make my heart pound so hard the sound rings in my ears… and other times it feels as though it has stopped all together." She stopped her lengthy confession, chuckling when she saw Robin had hardly stirred in his sleep.

"I guess I'm just talking to myself now…"

Starfire realized that even if Robin had been awake, he wouldn't have understood what she was talking about, at all. She loved him… and he didn't even remember her. Tears began to stream down Starfire's face. She put her hands up to her eyes in an effort to hide them, but it only served to start her sobbing.

_We… we must get you back. I cannot keep going like this…_

Starfire's eyes widened as she felt a strong, warm pair of arms wrap around her, and a soothing voice whisper something into her ear.

_A few minutes earlier_

Robin was dreaming. No, not one of those storybook type dreams. And not the "I'm-flying-on-the-clouds" type dreams either. His dream was a dark and endless void, with twisted realities, and filled with confusion.

_Roooooobin…?_

_Hello?_

_Robin…?_

_Who are you?_

_Robin? Where've you gone?_

The dream-voice was feminine. The girl's voice sounded lonely and afraid. Robin couldn't quite place whom it belonged to.

I'm right here… 

_Robin… why have you left me?_

_I haven't gone anywhere! I'm HERE!_

_You… you have left me all alone._

_W-What?_

_Why won't you come back to me?_

_I don't know… I-I want to._

_Then do! I… I am very sad without you._

I'm sorry… I don't know how to get to you… 

The dream-girl's voice died away in despair.

_Wait!! Come back!_

Nothing. Complete silence.

Robin's eyes snapped open, efficiently waking him up from his dream. Hearing that girl's desperate voice calling his name… and then just fade away… it had filled him with such a deep feeling of loneliness… he didn't think he could take the agony of it any longer.

Once his heart stopped pounding, and his breathing slowed again, he took the time to notice something. There was someone sitting next to him. Crying.

He sat up, and turned around to face whomever it was. 

It was the alien girl he'd been traveling with earlier. Robin couldn't quite shake the feeling that this girl was the one from his dreams. Before his mind could process his actions, Robin flung his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

"Shh… it'll be all right," he whispered, not quite sure what he was saying. "Please don't cry, Star."

Starfire's eyes widened. "R-Robin… you called me 'Star'."

Robin nodded. "That _is_ your name, right? Starfire? I… kind of had a strong feeling that it was."

Starfire nodded too. "Yes… that's it."

Robin smiled and hugged her tighter. "I'm so glad I'm finally remembering something…"

"I am too. This, if nothing else, proves there is hope."

Robin nodded. "I'm wondering… Were we very deeply in love?"

Starfire was more then a little surprised by the sudden question. She took a while to answer. "… Yes, I suppose we were both very deeply in love. At least I think that you loved me… and I know that I love you." She sighed. "But we never told each other… It was kind of kept a deep secret."

Robin frowned. "I wonder why we would keep a secret like that…"

Starfire looked up at the ceiling, suddenly very aware of how good she felt to be held in Robin's arms. "I do not know. I should have told you."

Robin said nothing for a very long time. At first Starfire was afraid he had fallen asleep again. Then, "I want to remember, so badly…"

"Mr. Arai and Sayuri are working on something that will help restore your memory…"

"But what if I still can't remember? What will I do then?"

Starfire pulled back to look at him. She gave him a sad smile. "Then I'll have to save you myself. Chip or not."

Robin felt immensely comforted by those words. Something about them made him feel a whole lot safer. "It's good to know you'll be here for me."

Starfire nodded. "I'll _always_ be here for you." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, before standing up and walking back over to her own blanket and pillow. As she lay back down, she whispered back across the hall, "Good night, Robin."

"Sweet dreams, Star."

Back with Sayuri and Seiku… 

The kitchen table had been dead silent for hours now. The only sounds that broke this earth shattering silence were whispered murmurings, every minute or so, and the occasionally sip of coffee.

It was now 3 in the morning.

Seiku and Sayuri were both now pretty accustomed to the complete silence around them. That's why they both nearly fell out of their chairs when they heard a tired, groggy voice call out to them from the hallway's entrance. 

"Seiku? You're still awake?" The woman was wearing a frilly, white night gown, and her gray, white streaked hair was wrapped up high in pink curlers. "And… Mrs. Kenohe! What are you doing here?"

Sayuri sighed, amused. "Mr. Arai has _you_ calling me that, too? It's still Iotanke, Mrs. Arai. We aren't married yet."

"Back in my day, engagement was just as good as marriage."

Sayuri chuckled. "So I've heard."

Seiku smiled kindly at his wife. "Azuka… what are you doing up? You should be getting some sleep."

Azuka shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm not dying – just a little hung over."

Sayuri gasped. "Mrs. Arai… you were drinking? I mean… there's nothing wrong with that…. it's just that I wouldn't have expected it of you."

Seiku laughed. "Oh, no. Azuka wasn't _really_ drinking."

Azuka nodded. "Some of the punch they served at my office was spiked with alcohol. It's a dangerous thing for someone to do, but I'm just glad it wasn't anything worse."

Sayuri nodded. "I'm glad nothing like that ever happened to me. I'd be scared to drink punch again."

Azuka swayed a little on her feet, and put a hand to her head. "Know what? I think I'm gonna take a rest on the couch."

Seiku nodded. "That's a good idea. Why don't you turn on the news? I'd love to talk with you, but I'm just kind of busy…"

Azuka nodded, sitting down on the couch, and flipping on the Arai's old TV. "That's all right, honey. I understand."

Sayuri and Seiku went back to searching through the blueprints for flaws. 

The TV took a few minutes to start up. When it did, the image crackled and the sound blared, but Azuka seemed to enjoy watching it, nonetheless.

There were two news anchors on. Apparently their names were Jake and Brenda. Brenda had Barbie blonde hair, and a huge cheesy smile. Jake had stiff brown hair, gelled back in an Elvis-like look. Both had on so much make-up, they looked like they were made of plastic. Currently, Brenda was talking.

"… and they've still yet to get that poor kid down. Hopefully, the garbage truck's emergency brakes will hold up long enough to get that kid off it, and safely down the mountainside."

"Right. More on that later. In other news, a teenager by the name of Evan Pepple has reported to be another molestation victim of Michael Jackson. Pepple says that Jackson had invited him into his house for some candy, then proceeded to--…."

"This just in! There's been a bomb threat to the New York City Northside Hospital. A bomb squad is searching throughout the premises, but they have yet to find anything. The threat-maker will only identify himself as "Slade." Well, whoever Slade is, he sure is good at hiding explosives!"

Jake nodded. "You've got that right, Brenda."

Sayuri's head snapped towards the TV. "D-Did she just say…….?"

Seiku nodded, shocked. "Wasn't Mr. Kenohe in that hospital?"

"Yes…" Sayuri stood up, her chair screeching back behind her. "I've got to go!"

"Wait! What about Robin's memory? Are you forgetting your promise to that girl?"

Sayuri froze, and then shook her head. "No… I'm not forgetting my promise. But what should I do, then?"

Seiku thought it over. "Do this; Go to the hospital and protect your fiancé. Bring a few of the titans with you, because this Slade character may be there, and wanting a fight. But leave Robin and Starfire here, incase I crack the code to this chip. I'll need Starfire here to trigger his memories back, and I'll need Robin too, for the obvious reasons."

Sayuri slowly nodded. "Great idea!! Oh, thank you so much for everything, Mr. Arai! I'll make it up to you sometime soon, I _promise_!"

Seiku nodded. "Yes, yes, now get going."

Azuka nodded too, and glanced over at Raven and Beast Boy, curled up together on the other end of the couch. "I can wake up these two for you."

Sayuri smiled. "Thanks!" She ran into the Arai's dining room, to get up Cyborg.

She found him, curled up on the shag rug under the table. Sayuri crawled down next to him, and gently shook the half-robot. "Cyborg… Wake up, please… I'm gonna need your help…"

Cyborg rolled over, murmuring in his sleep. "… oh, yeah, girl… you know… you want me…"

Sayuri held in her laughter with difficulty. She shook Cyborg quite a bit harder. "Come on, you rock! Get up!"

Cyborg groaned, and his eyes slowly opening. "Eh…? What'd'ya want? It can't be mornin' yet…"

"I know. I'm sorry. Please get up. I need your help with Slade."

Cyborg sighed, rolling out from under the table, and getting back onto his feet. "Alright, alright… I'm comin'."

Sayuri crawled out from under the table, and the two of them walked back into the living room. They came in to find Azuka leaning over Beast Boy and Raven. She was shaking Beast Boy, who was just flopping around like a lifeless doll would. A trail of drool hung from his mouth.

"Ah, man… You're trying to wake up BB? He sleeps like a log!"

Sayuri chuckled. "Then what would you suggest?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Wake up Raven first."

Azuka glanced at Raven. "I didn't want to wake her myself… she looks a little moody… and strangely familiar."

Seiku smiled. "Don't think on it too hard, darling. You're still not feeling well, you know."

Sayuri nodded, and walked over to the couch. She gently shook Raven by the shoulders. She awoke instantly. "What is it?"

Sayuri took a step back. "Whoa… you're a light sleeper, eh?"

"Yes. Why'd you wake me up? It's gotta be 4 in the morning."

Sayuri nodded, impressed. "I need you three to help me with Slade. Can you wake up Beast Boy for me?"

Raven nodded and turned back to look at Beast Boy. She shook his shoulders vigorously, but had the same results as Asuka.

"BEEEEEEAAAASSSSTTT BOOOOOOYYY!!!!" she yelled directly into his ear.

Still, all to no avail.

Raven sighed. "Well…"

She leaned over Beast Boy and gave him a soft kiss. She **(A/N- reluctantly?)** pulled back when she felt Beast Boy slid his tongue into her mouth. "Alright. He's awake."

Beast Boy groggily sat up, yawning widely. "Eh… what's up, guys?"

Sayuri smiled. "Okay! Now that everyone's up, let's go."

Beast Boy **(anime-like)** sweatdropped. "Huh? Go where?"

(A/N- Soooo… was the fluff scene any good? I'm not terribly good at writing fluff… or humor… or action… or—Well, I'd better stop depressing myself. Even if I don't think I write well, you guys still *enjoy* my stories (to some degree, at least), so everything's cool.

**Hn… so, what'd you think about this chapter? Good? Bad? What? PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW!!**

**Oh-yeah… Review responses…**

Chi-chi-chan: I figured "hey, my story has way too many cliché's already, so what's one more gonna hurt?" Hope you enjoyed it.

**Fooble Bloop: I answered you in an e-mail, but for everyone else's benefit – support services are those bonus features they make you pay for, like getting a picture in your bio, or being able to see your fic's hit numbers. They have the support services listed when you click on the "log in" link (obviously, when you're already logged in).**

**Prisonero: It's a funny idea. I'll consider it. But I don't think so, at the moment. So far, the Yu Yu Hakusho inserts have been mainly for inside-joke humor with YYH fans and myself. It's not really a crossover fic as of yet. But I guess I could do that… It'd be kinda fun.**

**Toast: ^__^ I have a lot of info about me in my bio, hon. It also lists the animes and things I've seen and liked, so maybe you should read that. But, to save you the time, yes – I've seen Spirited Away, and (though the ending was super sad) I loved it to pieces. Haku is the hottest river spirit I have ever seen!! Er… even though he's the only one I've ever seen… Haku is still wicked awesome! Chihiro's a lucky duck. ^_^**

**Loselen Snowstar: Thanks for the advice. I'm trying it out on this chapter. Let me know if my homonym usage is any better.**

**Well, that's all for now folks. Now I'll end this little Author Note with my trademark (desperate?) plea for reviews.**

**Review PLEEEEEEEEAAAAAASE!!!!) **


	16. Chapter 15: Action Packed Sneezes

**{(Chapter 15- Action Packed Sneezes)}**

It was a few hours after Sayuri, Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg had left, when Starfire finally began to wake up. She slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. _I had such a wonderful dream last night… I wish I did not have to wake up from it…_

Starfire glanced down the hallway, where Robin still lay fast asleep. _I dreamt that Robin was holding me in his arms… and comforting me while I cried… _She sighed. It had felt so… real. If she'd known any better, she would've sworn it wasn't a dream. _But… Robin doesn't even remember me… why would he embrace me like that?_

Starfire sighed, and then put on her characteristic, joyful smile. _How wonderful it feels to be getting a good night's sleep again…_ She stood up from her make-shift bed, and folded up her blanket in the classic, Tamaranian way.

Across. Under. Over. Through.

By the time she was done, the blanket resembled a small triangle.

Starfire beamed, happy with her job well done. She picked up the pillow, and carried both that and the blanket with her into the Arai's living room. She was surprised to see that Seiku was still awake, and working at his kitchen table. But what really surprised her was that the woman sitting with him was not the red-haired, golden-eyed girl she'd been expecting to see. No, the lady with Seiku was far older, and had gray and white streaked hair. Starfire noticed that the woman's eyes were unusually wide, and colored a dark brown.

"Mr. Arai? Good morning."

Seiku turned around to look at Starfire. His weary expression quickly turned back to its usual pleasant, patient appearance. "Good morning, yourself, little miss. How are you feeling this morning? I thought I may have heard some sobbing from the hallway last night, but I wasn't sure if it was you."

Starfire gasped. He heard her?! _I thought elderly earthlings had bad hearing… and needed hearing aids and machines like that…_

She pushed aside her thoughts, and nodded. "Yes, I am feeling wonderful now, Mr. Arai."

Seiku smiled. "That's good to hear."

The woman sitting next to him cleared her throat. "Excuse me… I'm Seiku's wife. I don't believe we've met."

Starfire beamed. She loved meeting new people. "My name is Starfire. It is good to meet you, Mrs. Arai."

The woman grinned. Her voice was strangely loud compared to Seiku's quiet whisper of a voice. "Please, call me Azuka. And it's very nice to meet you, as well."

Starfire looked around the room, feeling as though something was missing. It was only a few seconds before it hit her what it was. "Where is Cyborg? And Beast Boy and Raven? And Sayuri?"

"They left a couple of hours ago." Azuka said, as her husband turned back around to face his worktable. "Seiku tells me that they went to save Mr. Kenohe from a man named Slade."

Starfire's mouth dropped open. "Slade? He is going after us again? Oh no… Now we won't have time to cure Robin!"

Azuka's already large eyes widened at the girl's obvious distress. "Starfire… calm down, now. Mrs. Kenohe said that she and your friends would be taking care of this Slade man. And while they do that you, Seiku, and I will be doing everything we can to help your boyfriend."

_My boyfriend?_ But Starfire didn't bother correcting the woman. "You are… sure that they can handle Slade without myself and Robin aiding them?"

Azuka nodded, then went back to scanning through various papers on the table. "I'm reasonably positive."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the city hospital… 

Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven and Sayuri were all sitting outside the hospital building, waiting for Slade to contact them somehow. They were also waiting there so they could stop him if he decided to attack. They'd already spent the last few hours searching the place for a bomb, but didn't have any more luck then the police had. So… they'd just had to play the waiting game.

"ACHOO!" Out of the blue, all four simultaneously sneezed.

"Bless you." They all sniffed.

After a moment of silence, Beast Boy spoke up. "Hey… what was with _that_?" 

Sayuri shrugged. "The sneeze thing? I dunno… maybe it was just a coincidence. That, or maybe someone was thinking about us." She smiled. "You know how the old superstition goes."

Cyborg shook his head. "Nope. What superstition?"

"Me neither." Beast Boy joined in. "What superta… superto… supatee… er… What is it?"

Sayuri chuckled. "It's just an old Japanese belief. They say, if you sneeze, it means someone a ways a way is thinking about you."

The Titans were silent for a moment, thinking over the myth.

"So that's why I have so many allergies!" Beast Boy beamed, and broke the silence. "I have _so_ many adoring fans. They must talk about me all the time!"

He elbowed Raven. She rolled her eyes.

Sayuri laughed.

Cyborg groaned. "….. overgrown ego….."

"Excuse me?" Beast Boy faked a sneeze. "I couldn't hear you over my popularity."

Sayuri laughed even harder.

Beast Boy turned to look at her. "Dude! What's so funny? It's true!"

She took a few moments to get over her laughter. "I'm sorry. It's just that, I've never seen a _guy_ dressed in _purple_ act so… big headed."

Beast Boy's mouth dropped open, as he looked down at his clothing. _Is that an insult?_

Cyborg smirked a little. "Well, _I_'ve seen a guy in purple act as arrogant as BB does. But, I'm not sure if he really counts. The guy was… well…" He made a hand gesture.

Sayuri's laughter started anew. Cyborg joined in with her this time.

Beast Boy's face went red. He lunged towards Cyborg, but Raven intercepted him before he got to him. Her hand pushed back on Beast Boy's chest as his arms continued to flail in an attempt to strangle Cyborg.

The four of them were still making quite a commotion, when they heard someone behind them loudly clear his throat.

They all immediately froze. Slowly, they turned around to face the man. He was clad in a long black trench coat, and had a matching hat tilted low, casting a dark shadow that hid his face.

**(A/N- You guys may argue that Slade never wears anything like trench coats and the such, but in the Thunder & Lightning episode he disguises himself as an old mystic or whatever, to fit the role of the man deceiving Thunder and Lightning… So… I figure here, he might disguise himself so as not to stand out among the other people in the city.)**

"Who--…" Beast Boy started to ask.

"After spending two days in his hideout, I'm afraid I could recognize that putrid odor anywhere." Sayuri said, disgusted. "It's Slade."

Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg instinctively dropped into battle-ready positions. They stiffened when that saw Slade slip a hand into his trench coat. 

The Titans only relaxed slightly when they saw him pull out a bright white cloak.

"That's mine." Sayuri muttered to the three Titans.

"Nice observation." Slade scoffed and threw the bundled up cloak at Sayuri. It landed less then a yard in front of her feet.

Sayuri didn't move to pick it up. Instead, she looked down at it, cautiously.

"Well? Aren't you going to take it?"

Sayuri looked up from the cloak to glare at Slade. "Why are you returning it to me?"

"I finally found out about your betrayal. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed sooner - it was so obvious… But, I'm decided to return your little cape because I thought you might want to have it back, before I kill you."

Sayuri remained silent.

"Still not going to pick it up?"

"Well, would you? You could have easily put some deadly powder or something on it. Or a bomb, even."

Beast Boy's eyes widened a little. He hadn't considered that before. Subconsciously, he inched away from the cloak.

"Of course I didn't put any poison, bomb or acid on it. How would I have carried it around on my person, if it had either of the three?"

Sayuri inwardly groaned. In all her critical thinking, Slade still had her beat in wits. Most likely in strength, too. Thank goodness she wasn't in this alone anymore.

Keeping a careful eye on Slade, she bent down and picked up the cloak. She dusted it off, and pulled it on. Sayuri carefully buckled the top, and then raised a hand up towards Slade. Forming on her index finger was a glowing orange spirit bullet.

"What? Not even a "thank you"?"

"No one here owes you any thanks, man." Cyborg said, readying his plasma blaster for fire.

"After what you did to Robin and Starfire…" Beast Boy trailed off, morphing into a large green bear.

"We will make you _pay_." Raven nearly growled, her eyes glowing white.

Sayuri nodded. She thought back to what Slade had commanded her to do when she'd been so desperate for his money. How his only goal was to tear Robin away from his little family of friends. How he didn't care who he hurt or stepped on, as long as he got what he was aiming for.

Her eyes narrowed as she fired her spirit gun at the man. "Die, Slade."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in apartment 314… 

Starfire and Azuka Arai had officially decided that –since neither had any past experience with microcircuits or computer chips- they could do nothing to really help Seiku with his… task. 

So, both ladies were seated on the Arai's living room couch, carefully watching the news for any sign of Sayuri and the three Titans.

In fact, both women had their eyes practically glued to the screen when Robin walked into the room yawning, with his pillow and blanket tucked under his arm. Seiku noticed him first.

"Good morning, Robin."

Starfire jerked her eyes from the screen and looked up at him. She beamed the moment she saw him. Robin could have sworn he saw her eyes dancing, as she got up from the couch and hovered over to him. "Robin! It is good to see you looking so refreshed. Did you slumber well?"

Robin nodded. Starfire's smile spread, and she hovered back over to the couch.

"It's nice to see you've slept in." Seiku commented as he went back to his papers. "At least one person did."

Robin frowned. "I slept in? I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I only feel bad that the others didn't."

Robin yawned again, then glanced around the room. "Where _are_ the others?"

"They left to search for Slade." She motioned towards an empty spot on the couch. "Come sit with Azuka and I, and we can watch for them on the television."

Robin smiled. "Okay."

He sat down on the couch between the two women. Starfire shot him a joyous look before turning her always-undivided attention back to the TV. Robin did the same.

The newscasters on air were the same that had been on when Azuka had first flipped on the TV. She guessed that they had 5-hour shifts, or something along those lines. After all, it was a 24/7 news station.

"…. And in other news, the fire department has finally managed to rescue 9 year-old Selina Dempsey off that garbage truck she was stuck on top of."

"Really, Brenda?"

"Yes, Jake. After being stuck on top of the truck for 8 strait hours, when she finally got down, the first thing little Selina asked for was a big bar of chocolate."

Both anchors chuckled. The sound was fake and hollow.

"And, we have more news on the action at the hospital. It seems that, in addition to a bomb threat, the city's Northside Hospital has become the battle arena for some very intense looking fighters. Here's our live feed."

The screen faded out from the anchors, to show a "Live Feed" of the action at the hospital. Starfire and Robin both gasped when they saw the cloaked man the three Titans and Sayuri were standing off against.

"It's Slade!"

Seiku turned around to look at the screen. "So that's the infamous Slade?"

Both nodded.

Azuka squinted at the screen. "How dull. I was expecting a giant robot or something, the way you were all going on about him."

Seiku chuckled and went back to his work.

Starfire and Robin sat stone still, eyes transfixed on the screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Back to the hospital… Now where was I…._

"Die, Slade." Sayuri said, as she fired her spirit gun.

The orange blast left her finger, and sped towards Slade. It was mere inches away from his face when he… disappeared.

Bear-Beast Boy's mouth dropped open. _People can't just disappear!_

Cyborg blinked in disbelief. "W-What just happened?"

"How did he _do_ that…?" Sayuri muttered in disbelief. That was one wasted spirit bullet down for the count. And if Slade could turn invisible, she feared her gun would be pretty useless anyway.

"That's a secret." Sayuri heard someone whisper into her ear, right before she felt a hard weight slam against the back of her head. 

She cried out in hurt as she briefly felt a fiery hot pain run through her mind. She was a little relieved when the pain ceased, and she fell into a blanket of numb sleep.

**(A/N- Chapter was originally intended to be longer, but I really just couldn't resist ending like that. I've always wanted to do that, you know… It's a terribly cliché way to end a chapter, but I just _love_ all the suspense. ^_^ "Is Sayuri dead? If not, will Slade kill her now that she's unconscious? What about the other Titans? Will they be too engrossed in battling Slade to help her?"**

**Don't you just hate me? I think I end all my chapters with cliffhangers… Yet so few people complain.**

**Oh, yeah… I gotta post some review responses, too:**

**Toast: I'm very sorry you're feeling under the weather. And don't worry about your "odd ramblings". I'm not even sure I'd classify your help and kind words as "ramblings", anyway – but they are appreciated, none-the-less. Thank-you.**

**Holly: *is turning a _deep_ shade of red* Thank you… Though I'm not quite sure why you like my fic so much (I'm not very talented at writing…), but it sends me on cloud nine, at the honor of getting such a nice review. You asked where I got my ideas. It's nothing special, really. They're mostly from things I've been dying to see happen since I first started watching Teen Titans. All the OC's are from character sketches I do during review lessons in History. ^^;**

**Fooble Bloop: You are _not_ a moron! Don't even _think_ that! You just don't like reading the fine print, is all. I don't either. I didn't notice the support services notice until about 2 months after joining, and only then because my sister pointed it out to me.**

**Mephistopheles-Hellfire-Master: Wow, you're right. That never occurred to me before. Might make a good fanfic twist…**

**Weirdo High Coffee Girl: *nods* I realize… a lot of the people reading my story haven't seen Yu Yu Hakusho… And it'd be kinda unfair to them if I made it a crossover so near to the end of the fic. So, I won't.**

**Ocdsugar: oo; I'm sorry!! I know I should have updated sooner. But I had/have three huge projects due real soon, and in addition to that have been studying for my mid-terms, and my piano concert. I know I shouldn't be making excuses… so, I'm very, very sorry. I'll put up the next chapter faster. ^^ 'Kay?**

**Wow, that's a lot of responses. Oh, well… I've done as many before… Nothing out of the ordinary…**

**Please review, everyone!!)**


	17. Chapter 16: BOOM!

**{(Chapter 16- BOOM!!)}**

Slade couldn't help but smile as he towered over Sayuri's unconscious form. The last time he'd actually gone into battle himself, he'd been forced to retreat from the Teen Titans. Now… well… it felt good to be winning again.

Slade kicked her in the stomach. Hard. But she didn't wake up. Didn't even stir.

"I was planning on making her actually suffer for her treachery… but this'll do just fine." He reached into his coat sleeve, and pulled out a small dagger. 

He held it just in front of his face, quickly examining the blade. The metal was lightweight, but very hard. The edge had been welded unbelievably sharply. The small weapon could cut through most anything. It was his own craftsmanship.__

Slade held the dagger up over Sayuri. His grip loosed on it, as he prepared to drop the lethal object through the back of the girl's head.

It was at this moment that Cyborg decided to fire that plasma blast. It hit Slade's hand, efficiently knocking the dagger out of it. The knife flew up and back behind him, twirling in a lazy loop until it landed a good 9 yards behind him.

**(A/N- *yawn* Hai… I am so cliché…)**

Slade didn't flinch. Instead, he glanced wearily back at the three Teen Titans. After Sayuri had fired her attack, the three had rushed towards him with her spirit bullet. Now that he'd "mysteriously reappeared" where they had been seconds before, the Titans were hurrying back.

"Pathetic," Slade said, as he seemed to "disappear" once more.

"Over here!" he called, as they Titans reached the place he'd been previously standing. Beast Boy groaned, temporarily morphing back into his "normal" form.

"_Hey!_ We can't keep chasing him around like this! We'll never catch him!"

Cyborg frowned. "I know. I'm thinking…"

Raven's brow furrowed. "What we need is a plan."

Both Beast Boy and Cyborg nodded. "We need Robin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in apartment 314… 

Seiku was convinced he was close to finding the problem in his chip design. For the moment, he was concentrating completely on his blueprints – utterly oblivious to everything else going on around him.

Meanwhile, Robin and Starfire stared at the television screen in horror. Azuka was more curious then confused at the situation.

"So, how'd he do that?"

Both Titans continued to stare on in shock.

"Oi! Young'uns!"

"……"

Azuka's voice dropped to a whisper. "That man's new trick… must have caught you all rather unprepared… if you're both that horrified."

Robin shook his head, snapping out of his trance. But his eyes remained glued to the TV. Starfire continued in her wide-eyed stare.

The news was still showing the "exciting live footage" of the action outside the hospital. The two anchors' voices still ran over the shots. 

"Did you _see_ that, Brenda?"

"Sure did, Jake. One of the warriors just disappeared into thin air!"

"And reappeared about 20 feet away!"

"Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yes, I wonder how he did it."

Robin shook his head. "How _did_ he do it?"

Starfire snapped out of her "trance". She sighed and shrugged.

"I'VE GOT IT!!!!" Seiku suddenly yelled.

Robin, Starfire and Azuka nearly fell off the couch in surprise. Azuka was the first to turn around to look at him. "Hon… you mean you figured out how that Slade fellow seemed to disappear?"

Seiku paused. "Eh… what are you talking about, dear?"

Robin shook his head. "Never mind that. What _did_ you get?"

Seiku broke out into a grin. "I found the flaw in my design!"

"Y-You did?" Starfire looked at him hopefully, almost afraid to believe that everything was really gonna be all right again.

Seiku nodded. Starfire beamed.

"That's fantastic!" Azuka said. "What was wrong with the microchip?"

Seiku seemed impressed with himself for finding such a tiny mistake. "Well, I accidentally designed micro-wire 78a to be charged with .00089 volts too many, of negative energy. The access voltage threw off the electromagnetic balance in sector 5b. Thus, sector 5b shut itself down when activated, and Robin didn't loose the particular memories required for him to forget his morals."

Azuka yawned, teasingly. "But of course."

Seiku smiled. "I knew you'd find it just as interesting, dear."

Robin smiled as well. " So … I'm going to get my memory back?"

Seiku nodded. "Just as soon as I create the new, improved, exact-opposite chip."

"How long will that take?"

"Now that I know exactly how I need to wire it? Mere minutes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We need Robin."

Raven frowned, glancing over at Slade. He was pulling his knife out of the tar. It had been half-way wedged into the ground.

"Well, that is not an option right now. Improvise."

Raven bent down next to Sayuri, making sure the girl was all right. While she checked for breathing and a heartbeat, Cyborg and Beast Boy thought over the situation. _A plan… we need a plan…_

Suddenly, Beast Boy brightened. "I have an idea!"

Cyborg paused. "Really?"

"_Yes!_ What's so surprising about that?"

"Nothing… nothing…"

Raven stood up. Sayuri was fine, save for a few nice bruises on her stomach and the back of her head. Still, she'd probably be unconscious for a little while.

"What's your idea?"

"I—"

"Sorry to interrupt your little meeting." Slade half-called. "But I _do_ have to go retrieve Robin from those elderly people… sometime today."

Beast Boy sighed. "Well, just follow my lead."

He turned and took a few steps towards Slade. Raven and Cyborg exchanged weary looks, then turned and did the same.

Slade sighed an emotionless sigh as he looked at the three. "What an overkill."

One of his hands dropped to his belt, and he detached a small, red, metallic sphere hanging from it. He tossed it to the ground. "I don't need that to beat the three of you, anyway."

"What was it?" Cyborg asked.

"It's advanced technology." Raven answered. "Probably from Gizmo. My guess is that it somehow gave him great speed… so we couldn't follow his movements when he was going back and forth."

Slade mock-applauded. "Very good. But that thing has a short-term usage. It's dead already."

"Why'd you use it up so fast?"

"The gadget-boy told me it would last longer then that. But, like I said, I don't need that to take you three down. It's not of significance."

Cyborg sighed. "Alright… Titans… GO!"

Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven rushed towards Slade. Cyborg prepared himself for his attack. Raven's eyes went white as a few of the cars around her began to glow black. Beast Boy morphed into a cheetah to gain speed.

And gain speed he did.

Beast Boy was close to Slade. Mere feet away.

He was there!

And… he ran right past him.

Raven and Cyborg stopped dead in their tracks as Beast Boy ran out of the parking lot, and disappeared behind the hospital's neighboring buildings.

The remaining two Titans' mouths dropped open. The glowing cars turned back to their normal colors as Raven lost her concentration in shock.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!" Cyborg yelled.

Slade seemed amused. "What? The old _pretend-to-run-away-so-you-can-have-a-shot-from-the-behind_ trick? Please don't say that's how you plan to beat me."

Raven shook her head, astonished. "No… he just… ran away."

"Seems your friend made a smart choice."

Cyborg squinted. There was no way he just saw that. Beast Boy had abandoned them!

Both Titans sharply shook their heads. They had to take down Slade, or Robin wouldn't have a chance at getting his memory back. Raven was half-surprised Slade hadn't attacked them in their moment of vulnerability. But… he probably figured he didn't need tricks to beat them. Stupid egotistic masked man.

The cars around Raven glowed back once again. Three of them went flying towards Slade. One rolling on the ground, the other two flying 2 feet in the air.

Slade skillfully dodged them. He flipped over the one rolling on the ground, with ease. Cyborg took his chance to close the distance between them. He took several swings at Slade. Slade avoided each blow, taking a quick step or two back.

Then… something green flashed by. It hit Slade from the side, knocking him to the ground.

It was Beast Boy.

"You're back!" Cyborg grinned.

"Of course! You really thought I'd just hit the road like that?"

Raven's eyes glowed white once more. A black circle surrounded the caught-off-guard Slade. It lifted him several dozen yards into the air, and then dropped him back down. It might have killed a lesser man. She was sure it wouldn't kill Slade.

The three titans cautiously inched closer to the motionless Slade. Cyborg slowly reached to take off the man's mask. He was a little reluctant – knowing full well that Robin desperately wanted to be the one to unmask Slade.

But… there was no sense in waiting for Robin to come and unmask him.

Cyborg lifted off the mask.

It didn't reveal a face. Not even a video screen.

Under the mask was a countdown clock.

"A bomb!" Raven gasped.

The countdown started when the mask was removed. 20 seconds. 19. 18.

"RUN FOR IT!" Cyborg yelled.

"No!" Raven said, quickly. "The hospital!"

12. 11. 10.

"Well?? What do we do then??"

8. 7.

Beast Boy was quickly reminded of a movie he once saw. "Throw it in the air! As high as you can!"

5. 4.

"O_kay_."

Cyborg picked up the small bomb, and chucked it into the air. It went surprisingly far.

"Wow." Beast Boy whistled through his teeth. "Nice throw."

_BOOM!!!_

The bomb exploded at a very safe distance, high in the air. Other then the possibility of frying a few birds, they'd kept everyone unharmed.

"But… if that was just another double… where's the _real_ Slade?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Back at the Arai's apartment… 

"Done!" Seiku smiled as he brandished a brand new microchip.

"Well, go on, then." Azuka said, giving Robin a little shove. "No use in wasting time."

Robin nodded, and stood up from the couch. Before he could walk over to the table where Seiku sat, a loud knock at the door stopped him in his tracks.

"Oh…" Seiku's smile faded. "I wonder who that could be."

**(A/N- ^__^ Hope you aren't wondering too.**

I'm soooooooooo sorry these updates are taking so long. It's taking me a while to update… what, with the Christmas holidays coming and all. Still, I probably wouldn't have even updated this soon, if it weren't for a Christmas miracle. You want to hear about it?

**Well, I had finished writing out this new chapter, and was in the middle of writing holiday greetings in my author's note… when the power went out. I hadn't saved the file! The power came back on, so as my computer started back up, I was pacing around the living room and praying "Oh, God… please, please, please… intervene _somehow_… please…"**

**When my (old) computer finally turned back on, I typed in my password, a window immediately popped up. It said "Chapter 16 (recovered)". All my work was still there!!!**

**O-M-G… I don't think I can even describe how relieved I was…**

**Review responses:**

**Chibi-Suiko: I'm not really sure how many chapters more I'm going to go. Probably… erm… 2 or 3 more. And then a nice epilogue. Don't hold me to it, though. ^_^;**

**Chibi Momoko: Hai… I'm fully aware that my story has more clichés in it then the average story. But it's not too bad. Playing on a cliché or two is actually fun… just as long as you don't go too far with it (like centering an entire plot line around one cliché). What I think makes clichés fun is that you're taking a widely used idea, and twisting it in around your own particular way… and the way everyone twists it is different… sometimes you can tell things about a person, from the way they write clichés. XD Still, I do prefer fanfiction without them.**

**Starre: No, I don't think it would hurt to have a mild crossover. Just try and make sure you aren't confusing your readers who don't watch Sailor Moon.**

**Showstopper: Wow. A wonderful mix of criticism and compliments. I think I will now refer to your review of my story as The Ultimate Review. ^_^ Thank you. Also, I'm aware that Sayuri is a Mary Sue. Believe me, I've been told many, many times now. But, she _is_ the first OC I've gone (sort of) in-depth with… so… please go a little easy on me. I've learned a lot from the criticism I received about Sayuri. I can guarantee you my next OC will not be a Mary Sue.**

**Sailor Otaku: O-M-G!!! YOU NOTICED WHERE THE ARAIS ARE FROM!!! ^__^ I can't believe it! You're the only one who's recognized the names!! *Tosses you Christmas cookies* Snaps for being so smart!! ^^ And I'm glad you approve.**

**Ocdsugar: *nods* Raven, Slade and (less so) Robin are all out of character. Keeping people IC is not one of my talents. I'm trying to change. Let me explain why I altered, though… See, I have a _really_ bad habit of changing characters around for the sake of romance, or the plot of my story. Raven is acting OOC because sessha wants Raven and Beast Boy to be together, and they can't really be very happy together, if Raven doesn't learn to come out of her cold shell around him. Slade is OOC because he needed to be to fit the plot of the story. Or to have any villain humor at all (I don't like writing about the villains without humor. It makes it awfully boring). Robin is a tad bit OOC because… well… that was an accident. ^^;**

**I hope you're all having a wonderful winter break! I hope to update again real soon… since it's likely I won't get the change during the holidays.**

**Please review!!!**

**Have a good Kwanzaa!**

**Happy Hannukah!**

**Merry Christmas****!!)**


	18. ::Author Note::

I am sooooooooooooooooo sorry!!!!!!!  
  
0____0 I knew I'd be going on a "family vacation" sometime after Christmas... but I didn't know I'd be leaving ON CHRISTMAS DAY!!!  
  
Eh... enough rambling. Update: I am in North Carolina. I didn't know I'd be going till the very last minute. I brought my little brother's labtop. He hardly lets me on. When he does let me on, the internet connection costs $6 an hour, so I'm not allowed on for long anyway.  
  
Conclusion: u_u I'm afraid I won't be able to update again for a few more days. I'm getting back home next Wednesday day (or so)... But I *may* be able to type out the next chapter while I'm in NC... I hope I'll be able to, anyway. If not, I'm very sorry.  
  
Well... Happy New Year, everyone.  
  
Fireruby 


	19. Chapter 17: My Wallpaper!

**{(Chapter 17- My Wallpaper!!)}**

"But… if that was just another double… where's the real Slade?"

Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg all went pale.

"Robin!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "He's going after Robin!"

"We fell for it… It was just a distraction…" Cyborg groaned.

Beast Boy sighed. "What do we do now? Run off and help Robin?"

Raven remained silent. She shook her head, and walked back over to where Sayuri lay on the ground. The young woman was still unconscious.

"Before we do anything else, let's get her some medical attention. She may have gotten a concussion from Slade knocking her down onto the concrete like that. I can't tell."

Cyborg agreed and picked Sayuri up off the ground. As he walked towards the hospital, he spoke over his shoulder. "You guys go ahead. Hurry! I'll be right behind you."

Raven and Beast Boy both nodded. Beast Boy morphed into a hawk and Raven's eyes glowed white, before they took to the skies together.

_Just hold on for another minute... _Beast Boy thought, blinking against a sudden wind blowing against him._ We're coming_.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Back in the apartment complex…_

"Do not answer that, Mr. Arai." Starfire whispered.

Seiku paused. "Do you think it might be that fellow you're hiding from?"

Robin glanced at the TV screen. The footage from the hospital was gone. Now, the weather broadcast was being played. The "big battle" was definitely over.

"Yes, I think its Slade."

The pounding on the door didn't cease.

Seiku bit his lip. He stood up, and hurried over to where Robin stood. "There's no time to waste then, is there?" He gave Robin the microchip. "Hurry and use it. You may not get another chance."

Robin gulped and nodded. This was it. This was what he had been waiting for. His fuzzy, incomplete memories were going to solidify again. He'd be back to normal. What am I waiting for?

Robin attached the small device to his head.

He hesitated. "Last time, I think there was a certain word I had to say to turn on the chip. Is it the same word?"

"No, last time the key word was "erase". I thought that'd be out of place. Now you say, "restore". Like the first, it's specially tuned to your voice."

Robin nodded.

He took a deep breath, glancing over at Starfire. She was watching him anxiously, eyes wide and hopeful. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Restore."

The knocking at the door continued.

Robin squeezed his eyes shut as he felt a current of electricity surge through his head. He felt as though the power was restoring his mind a little… It was reactivating sections of his brain.

After a few seconds, his eyes popped back open. He looked happy.

"I think it worked!"

Seiku nodded. "I was sure it would. But… do you remember anything? You're memories as a Titan have been re-stimulated, but you must access them if you're to remember."

Robin frowned. Could this be more complicated?

The pounding on the door was getting louder. They had to hurry.

"How do I do that?"

"It's a simple matter. You just have to be reminded of things from your past."

Azuka nodded. "Try looking at Starfire. Seeing her should be enough to access your memories of her, at least."

Robin did as he was told. He had time to notice the strange look of emotions on Starfire's face - but that faded out to a blur as memories of his past with her rushed through his thoughts. The time they first met. That day at the carnival. Hanging out together. Working together. Attacking her as Red X. Her saving him from being Slade's apprentice.

By now, Robin had completely forgotten about the man pounding on the Arai's front door. As his memories of Starfire came back to him, so did all the things he used to know about her. Little bits of information... observations he'd made before... the hundreds of dreams he'd had... 

Robin was caught off guard when a strong feeling suddenly hit him. It rushed through his body, numbing his every limb. It was such a strong emotion… he was astonished he'd ever been able to forget it.

With his memory of Starfire, came his immense love for her. Robin had never noticed how intense it was before. It held no bounds, he was sure.

"Star, I--..."

The pounding on the door suddenly ceased. After a second, one last bang was heard - then a loud crack as the door's thin wood split open and the pieces fell to the floor.

Through a cloud of sawdust, Robin and Starfire clearly recognized the familiarly bulky figure of Slade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hi. I need some help for my friend..."

"Hey! You were one of the freaks fighting outside!"

"See... Slade knocked her out..."

"You caused such a ruckus!"

"...and she still hasn't woken up yet..."

"Everyone was afraid to leave the building!"

"...and we were worried she might have some sort of serious problem..."

"Your big commotion gave seven of our patients a heart attack!"

"...so, if you don't mind, maybe you could give her a check-up or something?"

The young receptionist _just _seemed to noticed that Cyborg was talking. She abruptly stopped her angry rambling, and sucked in a sharp breath. "You must be joking!"

Cyborg did a double take. "WHAT?! She's hurt! This is a hospital! You can't just turn away a hurt person!"

"I can and I will! You people are _bad news_. This hospital has had enough commotion for one day."

Cyborg glared at the young women. As his attention was now completely fixed on her... he seemed to just then noticed how pretty the girl was. She wore a pale pink nurse's outfit, and had black curls bouncing around her freckled face. His gaze traveled to her eyes... ice blue and glaring right at him.

Cyborg mentally slapped himself. _I'm getting distracted! Robin! Starfire! Slade! I've got to GO!_

He decided to try for another approach. He set Sayuri down, then knelt on the ground in front of the receptionist's desk. He clasped his hands together in plea, and put on his best sad puppy look. _Beast Boy's not the only one who can do this..._

"Please, miss. My friend's in trouble, and I can't go and help him until I know that this friend"-he tilted his head towards Sayuri-"is safe and being well cared for. _Please._ I need your help." Cyborg took his sad puppy look to the extreme. "Will you give it to me?"

The receptionist froze. She opened her mouth to answer, when a grey-haired lady came jogging up to the desk, from the back of the building. She was wearing the same pale pink nurse uniform as the young women in front of Cyborg. He couldn't help but notice how much more flattering the outfit looked on the latter.

"Natalie! I'm back from my coffee break." The old women said, now standing beside the other receptionist - Natalie.

"Already, Miss Faith?" Natalie sighed. "You've only been gone a few minutes. You have to sit at the receptionist desk soooo long everyday, Miss Faith! I'm worried."

Faith shook her head. "Well, that's just what I get for taking on so many shifts. I get paid much more for it. Don't worry about me a bit. I'm-..."

Faith paused, noticing Cyborg knelt in front of the large receptionist desk. "And who are you?"

Cyborg was frustrated. Would they never let him leave?! He stood up. "I'm Cyborg from the Teen Titans, and I'm fed up with this! MAN!!!!! I've been waiting here for too long! My friend's in trouble, and I gotta get that girl on the floor some help before I can go!!"

Faith blinked. "Well, why didn't you just say so? There's plenty of room."

Cyborg opened his mouth to begin ranting about the rude reception he'd gotten, but was cut off from saying anything by Natalie. Her cheeks were a little pink from the awkward situation. "I had refused him service, Miss Faith."

Faith didn't say anything for a moment. Then, "And why on earth would you do that?"

Natalie took a deep breath and responded, as calmly as she could. "He was one of the trouble makers brawling outside. And so was the one who got hurt. They made everyone in the hospital uptight, worrying, crying... and some of the patients' conditions worsened from the shock. And now they're asking us to help them?"

Faith gave Cyborg an apologetic look. "We're sorry for the unconvince, sir." Natalie gasped, then shot them both a smoldering look. Faith continued. "This young one is just a intern, and is a little inexpirenced about controlling her emotions when it comes to things like this." She turned back to Natalie. "It's not a bad thing to feel so protective of the hospital. You just have to know when's the right time."

Natalie's fumed. She stood up and stormed into the back of the hospital.

Faith shook her head. "Don't worry. I'll take care of her later. Now, who did you say needs help?"

Cyborg bent back down and picked up Sayuri's uncoinscous form. "Her. Slade must have knocked her pretty hard... she hit the ground and hasn't moved since."

The elderly receptionist gasped. "I think I recognize her! Is that Sayuri Iotanke?"

Cyborg blinked. "Uh, I'm not sure about the last name, but her first name is definitely Sayuri."

"Oh, my!" She sat down, and pressed a button behind her desk. Almost immediately, a team of medics came out with a gurney.

"Where?" One of the medics shouted.

Faith pointed at Sayuri, in Cyborg's arms. "Her! Sayuri Iotanke. Clonked on the head or something. Unconscious. Find the problem and fix it! Stat!"

"Right," was the automatic reply. They hurriedly rolled over, loaded Sayuri onto the gurney, and rolled her back into the emergency room.

"Now, aren't you going to go help your other friend?"

"Yes! Thanks, ma'am!" Cyborg said. He hurried out the door, breaking into a sprint as soon as he got outside. It was getting dark out. He'd have to hurry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, well, well. It seems I've finally found you." Slade said, almost tauntingly. "There'll be no more hiding from _me_, Robin."

Robin was temporarily disabled - his head being filled with many, many bad memories involving Slade. He didn't respond.

"It seems you agree."

"Azuka, run _now_." Seiku whispered to his wife.

Azuka nodded, and started towards the direction of the stairs. She froze when Slade spoke.

"Oh, I don't think so. No one but Robin and I will be leaving here alive. No one else will live to come back after him. I cannot take that risk again."

Robin snapped out of his sudden recollections. He remembered Slade fully now. The sudden fury he felt had his face flushed red. "No one is going to be dying here, Slade. No one, except maybe _you_."

Starfire smiled. Her friend and leader was back. She quickly formed a starbolt. Slade didn't have a chance.

"As you wish." Slade charged towards Robin.

Robin ran to meet Slade's challenge.

Slade dodged Robin's Kong-fu-like kick. Robin didn't have the same luck. A forceful punch hit him square in the jaw, and knocked him backwards.

Slade was open. Starfire took the chance to fire several starbolts at him. He dodged them all. Starfire's mouth dropped open in shock.

Surprisingly, so did Azuka's. She watched in horror as the missed starbolts burnt holes into her walls. "My wallpaper!" she groaned.

Neither Starfire nor Robin took notice of the woman's fretting.

Robin charged towards Slade once again. Right hook. Kick. Left hook. Right jab. Kick.

Slade dodged them all.

Then he knocked Robin back once again with a hard punch. This one to the chest.

Robin was too winded to talk. He could hardly breathe. _He's gotten better._

Robin considered his utility belt. His extendable pipe was no good. Nor a lot of his other combat weapons. If Slade was too much for him in hand-to-hand combat, he wouldn't be any better off with a pipe, ect. Maybe, though...

He reached back and threw several nets, birdarangs, flash bombs and small grenades at Slade.

Slade saw them all coming a mile away. He reached for a small, gun-like thing strapped at his waist. He aimed it at the flying gadgets, and fired. A soft, grey foam came from the gun-thing, covering the gadgets. They all fell to the ground, useless.

Robin gasped. _No way! He can't be prepared for everything! There has to be some way to beat him!_

Robin's hands flew back to his utility belt. He felt around it, searching for something that might work. _No... no... tried that... no... that won't work..._ Eventually, his hand came to rest over his spare pocket. Ah... now there was something he'd overlooked. This just might work.

His brain scrambled into gear, trying to form a plan.

_"...when it's expanded, it turns into a trap - sucking in everything around it..."_

_It sucks in... **everything**... and traps it there..._

"I've got it." He looked over at Starfire. She was still shooting starbolts at Slade. She'd probably decided not to risk going in and using her alien strength, seeing how badly Robin had lost in that area.

_Perfect_.

"Starfire... just don't stop firing..."

He opened his spare pocket, and took out the small orange sphere Sayuri had given to him. _Hope this works..._

Suddenly, he had a thought. "Starfire?"

"Robin? Help me! This is not working."

"Starfire, when I tell you, I need you to stop shooting at Slade."

Confusion clouded Starfire's eyes, but she nodded all the same. "I trust you, Robin." And she resumed her onslaught of starbolts.

"I'm glad." Robin whispered. He gently squeezed the marble-like device in his hand, and looked up at Starfire. He watched her throw another two starbolts, timed himself, and then chucked the small orange trap at Slade.

"Okay, stop."

Slade was rooted to his spot, dodging Starfire's attack. What else could he do? She was firing too fast for him to move. He'd have to wait until the girl ran out of energy.

Two more bolts. When would she give this up? He could already see she was weakening.

He was about to duck under both shots, when a large orange blob swallowed them both. _Where'd that come from?!_ Before Slade could react, the blob had sucked him in as well.

Now it was no longer a blob. More like an big orange circle. And he was trapped inside.

Slade noticed the two green starbolts bouncing around inside the energy trap... right before they hit him.

Starfire stared at Slade in disbelief. Not only was he trapped. He was out cold. Maybe dead. She turned to look at Robin.

"We are the victors?"

Robin smiled. "Yeah. We won."

Starfire smiled, her eyes lighting up. She glanced at Robin, wondering what the earth custom was of greeting someone who rescued you, lost his memory because of it, and then recovered from that.

There had to be one, right?

She thought back to a soap opera she'd once watched on television. A guy had come back from the dead, and his girlfriend had sprinted towards him, and locked him in a tight hug. Then the guy had kissed her.

_Certainly that is what I am meant to do now. It is nearly the same thing. And that custom does not sound awful in the least._

So, Starfire did the only thing she could think of to do. She ran towards Robin, who was just getting up from the ground, and tackled him in a fierce embrace.

Robin lost his footing for a second, but quickly recovered. He wrapped his arms around Starfire, shuddering at how good the hug alone made him feel. _Wow, she's warm... And she smells so good! Perfume? Wait - is she... crying?_

The Tamaranian was indeed crying. The girl in the show had cried when she hugged her back-from-the-dead boyfriend, so she thought it was only fit she should, too. It wasn't exactly hard. She was feeling emotional.

"I thought... I thought I'd never have you back." Star was half a quoting the show; half speaking her heart. She broke into sobs. She no longer had to fake a thing.

_But... he is required to kiss me now... that is what happened before..._

"Starfire..." Robin's voice was barely a whisper. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to cause you so much grief... I love you."

Starfire froze. Suddenly that TV soap opera was the farthest thing from her mind. "You... you what?"

"I think... I love you. I remember now... how I used to feel... how I still do feel... I have a great love for you, Star. And it just can't stay hidden anymore. It's unbelievable. It's boundless."

Starfire stepped back a little, to look at Robin. Her bright green eyes danced with joy. "I love you as well, Robin."

Robin smiled. He leaned in closer to Starfire, until their noses met. The skin contact sent shivers down both of them.

For a few moments, their breaths mingled. Eventually, neither could keep stalling.

And Robin kissed Starfire.

Raven and Beast Boy had been forced to land, due to the fierce winds blowing them back. So eventually, Cyborg met up with them on the ground. The three didn't stop running until they were outside the Arai's apartment.

They didn't have to open the door. It was knocked down already.

So, the three just stood in the doorway, eyes wide and mouths open. They couldn't believe what they saw. Slade was trapped in a huge orange bubble in the middle of the room. Azuka Arai had fainted, and was lying on the floor. Seiku Arai was bent down next to her, trying to wake her up. And, most shocking of all, Robin and Starfire were kissing, just a few feet away.

Beast Boy couldn't even manage a blink. "What... what's wrong here?"

Cyborg shook his head. "For once..."

Raven sighed and finished for him. "Absolutely nothing." 

**(A/N- YEAHHH!!!!! Now, that wasn't way too bad, was it? An epilouge is coming. Whoot!!! ^_^ After that, I'll be done. Yippee!! I'm terribly sorry for the slow update... *sigh* Stupid family trips always keeping me busy. ^_~ But, as an apology, I made this chapter extra long. ^^; At least I think it's long. I had to write it on WordPad. No word count, you know.**

**Well, anyway, I'm sure hope you guys can forgive me. You're just all so totally cool. Hey, did I mention that we hit 300 reviews? ^^ That's awesome, man. Thank you all so much. *throws various cookies and confetti at you***

**Well, anyway, I need to write out some review responses. ^^ Um...**

**dragonmaster1: 0_0 It shames me to have such great readers like you, and still not update constantly. *bows, and accidentally falls over* I'm sorry!!!**

**Michelle: *nods* I've thought over that whole dealio too. Though, not nearly as much as you. You give me new insight. *is impressed***

**Time's Mortal Enemy: First off, please let me express what my first impression was of your review. You use "big words" everywhere. You accuse me of things that other people might be offended by. I'm not offended. Just a little... er... upset, maybe. My first impression of this review was that you really do not like me. Hopefully I was wrong. To answer your question - my grandfather is a bible scholar, and for a long while I was kind of training to become one as well. The first book in the bible I ever read all the way through was Revelations. I thought it was totally fascinating... just because no one really _knew_ what it _actually_ meant. I read it through several times, until I started to get a mental image about some of the things. It was then that someone recommended the Left Behind series to me. And... I don't know... everything there just fit. I think that Jerry B Jenkins and Tim LaHaye had some major inspiration and blessings from God - because I personally believe that Left Behind is exactly (or almost exactly) how the end times were intended to be interpreted. No one knows for sure, though, so please don't think I'm trying to preach of give a lecture. You asked, so I told you. Also, I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't respond by telling me I don't know what I'm talking about (I _did_ tell you this is _only _what myself and others _believe_).**

That's about all. I should let you guys know... When I got back home from my vacation, my computer just... crashed. Too much RAM or something, because it won't start up at all. *many tears* Hope you believe me, but no big deal if you don't. It does sound a little... far fetched, huh? That I'd leave on a week long vacation (and not update), and then come home to find my computer out of order - so I had to type out the chapter all over again (and continue not updating)... But, that's just my life for you.

**^^ Well, I'll continue updating from my brother's laptop! Epilogue coming soon, I hope. Until then!**

**God bless you all.)**


	20. Epilogue: To Have and to Hold

**{(Epilogue- To Have and to Hold)}**

**6 Months Later…**

**::Starfire's POV::**

I watched, fascinated, as the elegant bride slowly made her way down the isle. She was dressed up very fancily. Her big, white dress was silky and sort of flowed as she walked. Her red hair was tied back in an elegant bun, and her face was decorated with make-up and a huge smile. Though, you could hardly see any of it through the thin white veil covering her head.

The church whose isle the bride was walking down, was also decorated elaborately. White and red roses colored the walls, and a large white canopy was hung over the front of the church.

Most of the guests in the pews were dressed in beautiful garments, and seemed to fit in with the rest of the church. I felt out of place in my Tamaranian clothes. But not too out of place. My friends had also stayed in their usual outfits.

"Hey, Star?"

Robin's whisper caught my attention, dragging it away from my observations.

"What is it, Robin?"

"I was just wondering if you're enjoying your first Earth wedding."

I thought it over a moment before answering. "It is... peculiar. I have never been to a wedding so formal, and..."

"And?"

"...Boring."

Robin chuckled. "I think a lot of people think weddings are boring. They just never say so out loud."

"Then why do they make them so?"

"It's supposed to be a grand occasion."

I sighed. I guess "grand occasion" is what you could have called the wedding. But, still...

"On Tamaran, weddings were a 'grand occasion' as well, but they were not like this. There was much more singing and dancing and celebrating and..."

Robin smiled. "We have something like that, too. After the wedding is over."

"Oh..."

Robin fell silent again, turning his attention back to the priest. I tried to do the same.

I heard the young priest was a close friend of the groom. He was standing in front of Sayuri and her soon-to-be husband, Takeshi Kenohe, and reciting a rather long speech.

"... _here today, to bear witness to the union of_..."

No use. I couldn't believe the entire church hadn't fallen asleep already. I missed the loud, happy wedding festivals we'd held on Tamaran. Trying not to yawn, I took my attention away from the priest, and looked over at my friends.

A few rows in front of Robin and I, Beast Boy and Raven sat side by side. I'd noticed that Beast Boy had slipped his hand into Raven's less then two minutes after the music had started. Despite the soft music and dull speaches, they both seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I smiled, turning to look at Cyborg, seated a couple seats to the left. He, too, had a friend sitting next to him. Her name was Natalie, and I was told Cyborg met her during our big escapade with Slade. I'd met her for the first time 5 months ago, when she'd come to the Titan Tower to apologize to Cyborg. She'd said something about being a rude, close-minded person, and then broke down crying.

Since then, I'd noticed that Natalie and Cyborg had grown closer and closer.

The priest continued to drone on. "... _do you take Sayuri Iotanke as your_..."

I felt Robin elbow me. "Try to pay attention. This is the important part."

I smiled and nodded. If Robin wanted me to watch, I'd do my best. "All right."

"..._to have and to hold, through sickness and health, as long as you both shall live_?"

I noticed that Takeshi Kenohe wasn't looking at the priest as he answered his question. His eyes were still locked on Sayuri. "I do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**::Robin's POV::**

"Sayuri Iotanke, do you take Takeshi Kenohe to be your lawfully wedded husband...?"

I chanced a quick glance at Starfire. Still on the edge, but still there. And still safe. Thank goodness.

"..._to love and to cherish, to have and to hold_..."

I couldn't help but worry, not after everything that'd happened. And especially not recently. Just 3 weeks before, we'd been informed of Slade's escape from prison. From a high security cell! I shouldn't have expected anything less.

"..._through sickness and in health_..."

I heard Starfire whisper something to me, and snapped out of my thoughts.

"Robin?" 

"Yeah?"

Starfire was now looking at the ceremony in a new way. There was an almost hopeful look in her eyes. "Do you suppose _you _will ever get married?"

"..._as long as you both shall live_?"

I didn't even need to consider the question. "Yeah. Someday, hopefully."

Starfire smiled and nodded. "Myself as well."

She slipped her hand into mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

And, for just one second... everything was perfect.

"I do."

_End_

((A/N- I'm... done. This fic is actually over. 0_0 I don't know whether to be happy at the accomplishment, or sad that it's all over. I guess I'm just too surprised. Wow. It's over.

Well, I hope you didn't mind the epilogue too much. I know it's real short... but from my own experience, I'd have to say about 4 of every 5 epilogues are shorter then a normal chapter would be. ^^;; Just an estimate though. Also - I noticed that having it in the different First Person POVs might be a bit of a shock. I read it over, and it sounded very confusing, so I added in the sub notes saying when the different POVs started. I hoped they helped, and didn't look tacky or anything. ^^;;;

**Perhaps I should do... credits or something?**

**For inspiration and support:**** I give credit to my sister (Mel), my cousin (Tiff), AND, Dark II Raven, CloakedFireMage, and TheTeenTitans. (^^; If I left anyone out, don't hesitate to tell me.) Thanks a ton!!**

**For saving Chapter 16 from a horrible, horrible death:**** God and the creators of Microsoft.**

**For being my character model for Faith:**** Nannette.**

**For being my character model for Natalie:**** Katelyne.**

**To apologize for stealing things/people from their show:**** The creators of Rurouni Kenshin, Teen Titans, and Yu Yu Hakusho.**

**And, of course, For being such awesome readers, and sticking with the story so long: Starfire7383, candykiss, Specter Von Baren, Black Ice, Sailor Otaku, some guy, Amber, Melonie, Blue glowing thing, BurnedFighter, Joanna Breon, F-Zero Racer, warprince2099, Veral42, Orion Kohaishu, Ravenrules99, ocdsugar, dreamingofflyingaway, Ayumi, Pline, Silver Panda, Aisleigh, Holly, A. Kiwi, Brie, WatcherOfDarkness, Miss Queen of the World, CrossSaumrai, QT102, dragonmaster01, LilK9Girl13 n' AznAngel21, Times Mortal Enemy, Lizzy0888, Cosmuluver, A.N.D, Momentum, ROBINROX, Loselen Snowstorm, Silver Storm Dragon, Seventy 5ive, Mephistopheles-Hellfire-Master, and Foooble Bloop.**

**^^ Luv you guys. Please let me know if I left anyone out.**

**Now... my last section of review response! *flexes fingers***

**Fooble Bloop: *nods* I heard about that. I'd tried my best to e-mail you... but for some reason none of my e-mails would send. Anyway, you have my prayers and condolences.**

**Mephistopheles: I should probably let you know that my e-mail box has broken down along with my computer. Well, at least the e-mail sending system has. ^^; I'm getting all these e-mails you're sending, but there's not a darned thing I can do to reply to them. Gomen nasi...**

**Seventy 5ive: ^^; Nope. Don't mind. Thank you.**

**Loselen Snowfire: Thank you for the corrections. They're probably there because my mom used her spell checker on that last chapter. o0; It's an old one, I suppose. Anyway, I'm very honored to have a place on your fav author list. Thank you.**

**ROBINROX: Really? That's awesome!! What a cool coincidence! ^^**

**Cosmoluver: I was told I was overdoing the fluff that I had in this fic, so I decided to tune it down a bit...**

**Time's Mortal Enemy: n_n; Wow. More big words. I'm very impressed by your vocabulary. And, no, it doesn't sound like you're sucking up to me at all. And you have absolutely no reason to. u_u There may have been a few off words in your review, but that's not you're fault. I was being a real jerk when I replied to it, and I'm sorry. I think I sent you an e-mail of apology as well, but you might not have gotten it. Anyway, yes, I really would like to be friends - if you can forgive me for being so snappy.**

**Aisleigh: ^^ I love how you manage to take my story's major flaws and turn them into compliments. You have some real talent at being optimistic. Or, is it called "finding the cloud's silver lining" or something? n_n;;**

**Ayumi: Well, for being new to the site, you review very nicely. Critisim and complaints. I'm glad you liked my story over-all. Personally, I don't think one of my best. But since when have I ever posted my "best" on this site? ^^;**

**ocdsugar: ;_; Yep. It's the end. *cries***

**Ravenrules99: Well, reviews are something to appreciate on this site. You need the criticism, and sometimes you just need the compliments as well. It's also very nice to know who's reading your stories, to return the favor. Also, I may write a sequel. It just depends on how many people actually want one. So far, only two people have asked about one... If a lot of people are uninterested, and glad to be done with this fic, then this will probably be the last Teen Titans fic I write for a while.**

**Black Ice: Unfortunately, no, I didn't catch Pixel Perfect. Don't those Disney specials last a month, though? Hopefully I'll be able to watch it sometime in the near future.**

**Candykiss: Thank you for the advice.**

**^^; Well, that's about it. I didn't hesitate to reply to a whole lot of them... this is, after all, this story's final Author Note! ;_; Now I'm all sad. Eh...**

**Well, as I said above, to Ravenrules99, I _am_ considering a sequel. It'll probably be starring Cyborg/OC, though it'll have fluff of the other Titans in there, too. I'm working desperately hard on trying to improve my OOCness and Mary-Sue-Thing, so I think it'll turn out a whole lot better then this did. Anyway, if you're the least bit interested in a sequel, let me know in your review (or in an e-mail, if you'd prefer). Please! Many thanks to you all.**

**God Bless.))**


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